Know Something about Couples Relationship Counselling

Human beings are made this way: we need to create bonds, whether familial, friendly, or professional. But romantic relationships have certain particularities, as they generate both psychological reactions (feelings of love, jealousy, happiness) and biological ones (hormone secretions and specific brain mechanisms). Couple life is therefore unsurprisingly one of the dimensions at the heart of our lives, and as such affects all dimensions of them: private life, sexual life, life plans, financial plans, children, etc. By affecting all these fundamental parts of our lives, love life can generate both our happiness (affection, sexuality, children, and projects together) and our unhappiness (separation, arguments, infidelity, divorces). This is why many people seek Couples Relationship Counselling in Dublin to navigate these challenges and strengthen their partnership.

What is couples therapy?

Couples therapy is a therapeutic process focused on your relationship, its future, and the happiness it brings to each partner. First and foremost, couples therapy allows partners to understand the dynamics of their relationship, the reasons behind its current state, and therefore to better understand each other.

Secondly, couples therapy allows partners to re-engage in dialogue, to re-engage in a conflict resolution process, to better communicate and externalize their needs, and thus to succeed, together, in consolidating the well-being of each partner and of the couple in general.

What happens during couple’s therapy?

It's important to understand that your couple’s therapist will not act as an arbitrator, nor will they be there to defend you or your partner. Since couples therapy is not individual therapy, the therapist will ensure that the therapy remains focused on the couple and its future. The couples therapist will help you identify the main factors behind the discomfort and problems you are experiencing in your relationship. These factors can be twofold:

Formal dimension: communication problems, distance, different schedules, hectic professional life, etc.

Deep dimension: personality differences, different expectations and needs, passivity, jealousy, fear of abandonment, etc.

Your psychologist will also help you create structuring factors to improve your relationship, particularly by focusing on these key points:

• Communication (an inevitable process in any reconstruction effort)

• Improved conflict management and resolution

• A better understanding of the partner's needs

• Time is allotted to each individual to examine their own needs and expectations.

How does couples therapy work?

Your therapist will first create a framework, a space allowing you to express your doubts, questions, dissatisfactions, and requests. This space is necessary to re-establish communication and, therefore, understanding of the other person.

During the sessions, the psychologist may give you exercises, such as role-playing games, to help you better understand the mechanisms at play in your relationship, but also to better understand your partner.

When should you start couples therapy?

• For both couples therapy and individual therapy, consultations are open to anyone who feels the need or desire for them.

• In particular, couples therapy is recommended in the following situations:

• Numerous disputes and conflicts

• A feeling that the arguments are masking a deeper problem

• A feeling that the efforts are not working

• Fear of separation

• Emergence of problematic behaviors ( anger , aggression, infidelity, etc.)

• Broken or unhealthy communication

• A desire to find answers and improve understanding and happiness in life

What is the purpose of couple’s therapy?

Couple therapy can have several objectives, simply because a couple can have several objectives:

• Improve communication

• Re-establishing an understanding and a sexual relationship

• Aligning life plans between partners

• Defusing conflicts, overcoming past conflicts

• Avoid a separation

• Facilitating the conditions for a separation

Whatever the objective or objectives of the therapy, they will be co-constructed nurtured and developed by you and your therapist, in order to allow each partner and the couple to find a better balance.

With Malou Acupuncture Counselling Dublin, you can consult online psychologists who specialize in couples therapy or individual therapy to address relationship issues. For more details, get in touch with us!