Couples counseling can really help two people communicate more effectively and work together to build a life. If you’re growing apart or having conflict, you may be thinking about going to counseling and wondering what really happens. Here’s what to expect.

The First Session

When you make an appointment with a counselor, the first session may be a little different than future session. During your first meeting, your counselor will want to get to know more about you and your partner and the relationship. The actual therapy may not begin until session two or three. Don’t worry. Your counselor needs information to help you.  This is also your time to get to know the counselor. You can ask questions about the counselor’s approach. Your counselor should ask about your goals. Do you want to fall in love again? Do you need to resolve a particular conflict? Maybe you just want to learn to parent together more effectively. This first session may be 90 minutes, but most sessions are 60 minutes.

Follow-Up Sessions

Once your counselor learns about you and your partner, your goals and your background, the real work begins. Couples therapy is pretty effective, and most couples begin to see improvement in four to six sessions. Your time in therapy may be spent discussing past hurts and how it is causing problems today. Your counselor may give you tools to assist in communication. Counseling can be a safe place to discuss hard topics. Everyone’s counseling sessions are different. It depends on many factors.

Expect Homework

Therapy sessions last only an hour, which isn’t a lot of time to work on the relationship. You can expect to be given homework to do outside of the session. You might be given a book and asked to read and discuss chapters with your partner. Some therapists ask couples to track their arguments. You may have to plan a date with your partner and go have fun without phones or kids.

Individual and Couple Sessions

Typically, couple’s therapy is for both parties, but there may be times when you need individual sessions to work through difficult topics. Therapy is very personal, so there’s really no way to know until you get in counseling and start to look at what is holding you back from working together as a couple. Couples therapy with a therapist, like a therapist in Palatine, IL from Lotus Wellness Center, can help you develop more communication and to reconnect as a couple. If you put in the hard work, you can expect results.

Make an appointment for couples counseling now to improve your relationship.

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