If you have been looking for a counselor to help you with your marriage difficulties, then you should know there are different types of counselors that you can choose from. Keep reading to learn about a few of them and what they can do for you.
Couples Counselor
A couples counselor is your traditional marriage counseling professional. This individual is a psychotherapist who specializes in intimate relationships. The counselor can help you to identify and resolve conflicts and they will also allow for emotional exploration. They can help you to rebuild a relationship and they can also assist you in working together with your partner to separate amicably.
Marriage counselors will treat you and your partner as equal patients during the psychotherapy. They will help to guide communication while remaining an impartial third party. This is ideal in situations where partners tend to blame one another for problems and find it difficult to move past events or negative emotions. Marriage counseling is often a short-term type of therapy meant to teach you the skills to continue building and maintaining a healthy relationship.
If you are having difficulties finding a counselor for your needs, then contact the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Many marriage counselors are credentialed by this organization.
Family Counselor
A family counselor offers similar services as a couples counselor. However, they tend to focus more on entire families and relationships within those families instead of just the marriage relationship. This means they are a good choice if you have children or if outside family dynamics are the cause of the relationship difficulties.
While marriage counselors are typically psychiatrists or psychologists, family counselors may be social workers, therapists, or psychologists. Also, the professional will see the entire family as the patient in many cases and may take a more holistic approach to assisting couples through difficulties. This means that the counselor is going to look for ways to assist you in your emotional, physical, social, and spiritual needs. So, you are likely to be referred to other services throughout the course of your treatment.
Family counseling will be tailored to your specific relationship needs. This means you will likely spend some time speaking to your counselors so that relationship problems can be identified.
If you want to know more about the different types of counselors and how they can help you with your marriage, speak with a psychotherapist nearby.
