Couples/Partners Counseling

Couples Therapy,
helps couples — married or not — recognize and resolve conflicts, heal wounds and improve their relationships by making thoughtful decisions about rebuilding your relationship or going your separate ways. Couples Therapy gives couples the tools to communicate better, negotiate differences, problem solve and even argue in a healthier way.

Couples Therapy is often seen as different from Individual Therapy because a relationship is the focus of attention, instead of one individual diagnosed with a specific psychological problem. Couples Therapy focuses on the problems existing in the relationship between two people. But, these relationship problems always involve an individual's symptoms and problems, on top of the relationship conflicts. For example, if you have difficulty controlling your temper, you will have more arguments with your partner. Or, if you are constantly arguing with your spouse, you will probably also be chronically anxious, angry or depressed (or all three).

In couples therapy, psychotherapists will help you and your partner identify the conflictual issues within your relationship, and will help you decide what changes are needed in the relationship and in the behavior of each partner, so that both partners feel satisfied with the relationship. Couples therapy involves learning how to communicate more effectively, and how to listen more closely. Couples can learn how to avoid competing with each other, how to identify common life goals and how to share responsibilities within their relationship. Sometimes the process is very similar to individual psychotherapy, sometimes it is more like mediation, and sometimes it is educational. The combination of these three components is what makes it most effective.

Couples therapy can be short term. You may need only a few sessions to help you weather a crisis. Or you may need couples therapy for several months, particularly if your relationship has greatly deteriorated. As with individual psychotherapy, you typically see a counselor or therapist once a week.

Couples Counseling at Denver Marriage and Family Therapy Helps Couples to:

~Stay Emotionally
Connected Amidst
Personal Learning &
Growth
~Learn to Trust your
Partner
~Learn or Re-Learn
Healthy and
Appropriate
Communication
~Discover Core Emotional
Needs and how They can
be Met by Your Partner
~Rediscover Playfulness and Trust Within the
Relationship
~Define what Parenting Means to You
~Develop your Most Fulfilling Sexual and Sensual
Life Together
~Look at Environmental Stressors and how to Manage Them as a Unified Team