At Anchor Counseling Center, we provide therapies that are called Marriage Counseling when they apply to married couples, and Couples Therapy when they involve people who are in serious relationships, but are not married. The therapies often are similar and are designed to provide couples with the skills to help them resolve existing issues in their relationships, as well as issues that might arise later.
This counseling is available and it is provided both by our Licensed Marriage and Family therapists and our Licensed Clinical Social Workers whose specialties include marriage and couples counseling. All of these therapists have Master’s Degrees in their chosen fields, as well as extensive experience in helping couples have happier and healthier relationships.
The problems couples experience can vary greatly from one pair to the next, and, in turn, the treatment plans can vary. There are, however, a handful of issues that we see and treat more often than others, including:
- Poor, insufficient, or absent meaningful communication
- Domestic abuse
- Drug abuse
- Mental health problems for one or both partners
- Sexual difficulties and/or dissatisfaction
- Infidelity
- Problems establishing productive parenting roles
- General, but as yet unidentified issues
In addition to meeting with a therapist in tandem, couples can decide, in consultation with their therapist, that more can be accomplished if one or both of the partners meets alone with that therapist – or sometimes with a second therapist – to work on issues individually. In all cases, the long-term goal is to have couples functioning at a more cooperative and compatible level than they did prior to therapy. This aim includes trying to give the partners a better understanding of each other and a healthier way to communicate so that they can enjoy their lives together.