What Are Some Signs that Couples Counseling Might Be a Good Idea?

How Couples Counseling Can Help

Waiting too long to patch up your relationship can often be a mistake. Like a stone, a relationship can gather moss until you don’t even see the relationship anymore. All you see is moss, or in this case, problems.

Signs of Relationship Problems

The following are common indicators that a couple’s relationship is in trouble:

• Broken trust. Your spouse or partner cheated on you emotionally or sexually or you cheated on them. One or both of you have lied or deceived the other about money, your activities or your feelings about the relationship.
• Conflicts. You find yourselves arguing with each other a lot. You can’t seem to agree on the little things or the important things.
• Communication breakdowns. You feel like your spouse or partner doesn’t understand or ignores you. Or perhaps you feel like you can’t talk to them anymore. Or, you’ve been looking for the right time to bring up a sensitive issue, but the timing is never right.
• Relationship shifts. You find yourself critical of your spouse or partner, but don’t know why. You no longer feel comfortable around them. Some aspect of your relationship is different but you do not know what it is or why.
• Overwhelming loss. The loss of a child, an aging parent who needs your help, the unexpected end of a career or some other significant change can take its toll on a couple’s relationship. How you weather the storm together may affect the bond you have with your spouse or partner.
• Dysfunctional or unsatisfying patterns. Habits develop that you or your partner get stuck in, and they aren’t helping your relationship. Examples include poor eating habits or lack of sleep along with unfair sharing of household tasks.
• Diminished emotional or physical intimacy. You hear about marriages or relationships where the passion is gone. The couple no longer connects emotionally and the individuals are heading in different directions as far as common interests. Or the couple’s sex life has gone from frequent to non-existent.

(Reference: (Psychology Today)

At Affordable Therapy Los Angeles we offer couples counseling. In cases where a partner refuses to go to therapy, it can often still benefit the partner who is interested in therapy to pursue the counseling. Sometimes partners see positive changes happening and will later become interested.