Marriage counselling can do more harm than good as it makes couples feel like a failure and that their relationship is already over a current report from the Department of Education suggests!
“Many of the participants felt that a couple should be able to deal with their relationship problems privately… without having to rely on external relationship support,” the report said.
OK call me biased (as I do manage a psychology practice) and over many years have witnessed couples successful resolve their relationship difficulties with the help of skilled psychotherapist. Family and friends whilst a great support in times of distress do not very often possess the skill set a trained professional has!
I do agree that couples in marital distress often wait until the eleventh hour to seek help. The stigmatism that has plagued people who suffer from mental illness/depression and has long stopped them seeking constructive help. I think and hope that this is slowly but surely being eroded, so please lets not put relationship counselling into that same bag!
The report recommended that professional support should be made as “informal” as possible and that they should not be billed as a way of trying to resolve an already failed relationship.
Divorce and the financial ramifications of failed marriages, especially where there are children are infintely more costly than the investment of marriage counselling… lawyers and the legal aftermath are way more costly than therapists. I’m not sure why investing in the most important relationship you have should be cost free. We maintain our homes, we maintain our cars and then we balk at paying fees to seek help to maintain our marriage?
Read the report tell us what you think… have you ever had relationship therapy ? Was it useful?
Link to read this Telegraph article
Link to download the report let us know what you think!
