Ottawa Marriage Counselling Ideas & Benefits for 2021
Even if it’s to the right person, marriage can sometimes be difficult.
The past year has been especially challenging for many, with the pandemic affecting married life significantly.
In coping with the challenging times, some couples need more help than others, which is nothing to be ashamed of. Marriage counselling, in particular, is an effective way of coping and addressing issues between married couples.
Counselling can help couples understand each other better.
The Year That Was: Why Marriage Counselling is Necessary
2020 was a particularly tough year and has placed a strain on the relationship of many couples.
The biggest of these challenges that we had to go through was the pandemic. We were all affected in different ways, but many married couples had an extremely tough time.
Among the culprits and factors as to why marriage counselling is necessary are the following:
Social Isolation
Most couples use time with friends or family as a chance to de-stress from relationship problems.
However, the lockdown has deprived many of this chance.
Social isolation has removed an avenue by which couples can air out grievances, resulting in serious consequences.
Getting Locked Down Together
For most couples, time spent together is great, but too much of a good thing can be problematic.
Some people need time apart, and even married couples are no exception.
Being locked in a limited space for weeks at a time can be challenging, after all.
Financial Instability
A lot of companies closed down because of the pandemic, and this cost many people their jobs.
As a result, the financial situations of many families have been affected.
Financial instability is a common cause of problems in marriage and can have very dire consequences.
Financial stresses can also impact your marriage.
Pandemic Anxiety
The pandemic has many significant effects on mental health.
Among the ones that married couples should take particular note of are depression, anxiety, panic, and excessive stress.
These mental health conditions have significant effects on relationships, so couples should always be aware of these.
Working from Home
Many companies have issued work from home orders because of COVID-19.
While many couples have adjusted to this wonderfully, others took the change hard.
Bringing work home, for example, has become mandatory. The boundaries between work and life have become extremely blurred, and now, a source of relationship stress.
Be sure to allocate your time properly if you’re working from home.
Of course, the pandemic was not the only source of problems for couples this past year. The many issues that were prevalent before 2020 still remain.
These include lack of communication, personal issues, work-life balance, or infidelity. Regardless of the current situation, all these problems are valid and may benefit from marriage counselling.
Marriage Counselling Ideas for 2021
Marriage counselling has been around for decades, with new methods popping up every now and then.
Among the most effective types of couple’s therapy and marriage counselling that can prove to be particularly useful for this coming year include:
Emotionally Focused Therapy
Emotionally focused therapy, also known as EFT, bases its methods on understanding a couple’s emotional responses.
This involves getting to the root of your emotions, how you respond, and how your partner responds.
Emotionally focused therapy is useful in helping married couples be more emotionally connected with each other.
Imago Relationship Therapy
Your childhood experiences shape you until adulthood, and this is the connection that IRT tries to establish.
By understanding your emotional responses as a child, your present-day relationships may benefit through the insights you gain.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, or SFBT, is unique in that it aims to find faster resolutions to problems.
This form of counselling is a streamlined method that involves goal-setting, problem diagnosis, and solution formulation for those involved.
SFBT can be used on its own or in conjunction with other marriage counselling methods.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CBT is one of the most popular and effective methods that counsellors use.
Cognitive behavioral therapy involves establishing the relationship between one’s thoughts, emotions, and behavioural responses.
The root of many marriage problems is internal, which is why CBT is an excellent way of addressing these.
Benefits of Marriage Counselling
Aside from helping couples find solutions to their problems, marriage counselling has many other notable benefits.
Some of the many benefits of marriage counselling include the following:
1. Communication is key
A lack of communication and miscommunication are very significant problems between many couples. Fortunately, all forms of marriage counselling seek to remedy these.
The foundations of many marriage counselling methods hinge heavily on proper communication. They help teach you, as a couple, to entrust each other with your genuine thoughts, insights, and emotions.
Many fights come from a lack of proper communication.
2. See both the bigger picture and the minute details
Have you ever been frozen out by your partner and not know why?
Many of us have experienced being clueless regarding the things we do that tick our partners off.
This is both a communication issue and a problem regarding how we view things in the relationship. Fortunately, marriage counselling addresses both of these in an excellent manner.
Counselling can equip you with the skills to see the bigger picture when it comes to relationship issues.
Of course, the small details to help you see problems in a clear light are also important. Being able to see problems through different viewpoints can help make your marriage stronger.
3. It creates a safe space
Counselling sessions aim to create a safe space where couples can speak their minds without fear of judgment.
Sometimes, this is exactly what a married couple needs to properly air out their concerns and issues.
4. It can help nip problems in the bud
Marriage counselling isn’t just for couples that are having problems.
Even ones with perfectly healthy relationships can benefit.
Since counselling helps with communication and problem-solving skills, you and your partner can effectively nip these in the bud before they even become an issue.
Marriage Counselling Helps You Become Stronger as A Couple
Marriage has its ups and downs.
If you feel that many of the downs are tough to deal with, consider marriage counselling.
Of course, don’t just go to any counselor. Find an experienced one that can definitely help. Couples based in Ottawa and surrounding areas will find Capital Choice Counselling to be a great choice.
To get started, select ‘Our Counsellors by Expertise’ in the menu towards the top of this page.
Find a therapist from our network who specialized in couple’s counselling, ideally someone located near or convenient to you. Then contact them directly to set up your first appointment for couple’s therapy in Ottawa.