I often ask my clients what brings them into couples therapy NOW? Answers range from mild curiosity to severe urgency, wherever clients are at I admire and marvel at the willingness to seek support.
In a culture that often prizes endurance, industriousness, and the ability to DIY, turning to professionals with the most intimate of struggles can feel like failing.
Indeed, most of us grew up wishing our caregivers had more help with their intimate relationship. Some of us were even tacitly elected to be the emotional helpers as children, rushing to fix our parents marital problems, or distracting them from their turmoils in creative ways. Somewhere along the way we might have received the message that explicitly asking for help is a sign of weakness.
On the contrary, bringing awareness, significance and deliberate desire to address intimate challenges is a BRAVE choice that can have monumental impact on the longevity and resiliency of a relationship. When couples allow themselves the time and space to directly move towards one another in a courageous effort to be seen, heard, validated and tended to, they often surface having deeper connection and sense of purpose.
Even when couples dissolve, the process of couples therapy equips them with a deeper knowing about themselves and a greater appreciation and respect for their journey. Grieving the loss of the relationship or celebrating new ways of being can be experienced in a more meaningful and integrated way.
What brings you to consider the brave choice of seeking help NOW?