If you are unhappy in your marriage and are fighting all the time, you might want to consider marriage counseling. If you or your spouse is out at the bar most of the time with friends, one spouse must ask what is happening. Marriage counseling is a form of therapy to help married couples work out their problems. Whether the problem is sex, communications, unfaithfulness or whatever, an attempt should be made to face the problem and try to work it out, especially if children are involved.

Marriage counseling is also called couples therapy. The purpose of this kind of therapy is to help couples resolve their conflicts and relationship. Counseling helps the couples to talk to one another and define their problem. Many problems stem from lack of communication. If one spouse is off pouting in a room behind closed doors there isn’t too much that the other spouse can do but to knock on the door and try to talk. The spouse may have no idea what the problem is because there is no communication. There is no way to talk if half of the couple remains silent. Without communication there is no way to resolve the problem.

Marriage counseling is usually short-term therapy. People have a problem and the therapist helps them solve their problem. This may involve teaching them how to communicate or how to compromise. It may be helping them to resolve sexual problems.

The purpose is to resolve the cause of stress is the relationship, whatever the cause may be. Marriage counseling can also help out in cases of domestic violence although this may be a little longer term. In the therapy session the counselor will try to help both parties identify the problem. Once they have identified the problem, then the counselor will try to help them to develop ways to cope with the problem. These sessions may have one or more parties yelling and shouting, or they may just sit there is stony silence, too angry to talk. The therapist will know how to deal with both of these situations and will show the couple how to deal with the situation when they are alone.

Marriage counseling and family therapy are fields of therapy in their own right and many counselors will be certified in this area. Most licensed therapists will engage in marriage counseling; so do pastors, priests, social workers, etc. You want ask the therapist what his/her qualifications are.