Search Results for: blog the process of marriage counseling

How to Find a Marriage Counselor

When your marriage is a bit rocky, you’ll want to seek out a good marriage counselor. But, you may not know where to turn. You don’t want to make your marriage worse by following the advice of a bad counselor. So, other than picking a marriage counselor randomly out of a phone book, what do you do? Here is some advice. Know Where to Look While the phone book is certainly an option, there are better ways. The first is through word of mouth from someone whose opinion you trust. However, you may be reluctant to share the fact that … Continue reading →

When He Refuses Marriage Counseling 3

Posted on by

Today I have been discussing one extreme measure that a woman can take to get her husband to attend marriage therapy with her. This method is described by Dr. Patricia Allen in one of her books. The first step of the method is to write a five paragraph letter to your husband. The second step is to leave and give him two times that you will call. I left off with the first call. During this call you can expect that he will likely either be angry or sad. However no matter how badly that you want to or no … Continue reading →

When He Refuses Marriage Counseling 2

Posted on by

I had begun my last article by discussing how many women find that their husbands are reluctant to get help for their marriage. Many women are desperate to seek out help and try to save their marriage. However they have no clue where to begin with getting their husbands to go. I had started a process that is suggested by Dr. Patricia Allen is how to get your husband to attend therapy with you. Before carrying out this process you must be very serious about getting help. You must also be at the point that you are ready for a … Continue reading →

When He Refuses Marriage Counseling

Posted on by

Women are much more accepting to getting help for their marriage than men. Most men are unwilling to open up to a stranger (a therapist) or even admit that they cannot work things out on their own without help. There are many marriages that could have been saved and divorces that could have be avoided only had the husbands given up their pride and gone to therapy with their wives. So how can you get your unwilling husband to attend therapy with you? Obviously he cannot be forced. In most cases you will not benefit from him going against his … Continue reading →

Forgiveness and Marriage

Forgiveness is a very important part of any relationship, but it is especially true in your marriage. We are commanded by the Lord to forgive all men regardless of what their offense is. When it comes to your marriage, it is important to be able to fully forgive your spouse. There may be instances when a transgression (such as an affair or abuse) may end the marriage, however it is still important to forgive your spouse so that you can find peace in your heart. The cycle of annoyances and irritants can escalate rapidly especially with those that you are … Continue reading →

Marriage Laws – Oklahoma & Texas

Posted on by

We’ve been exploring the marriage laws of the 50 states in the United States. We started in New England and worked our way down the Atlantic coast before heading west. Today, we’re heading into the great state of Texas and just to the north of Texas, the state of Oklahoma. If you read this blog regularly, you may have seen the posts covering the marriage law waiting for Governor Perry to sign that will more than double marriage license fees in Texas unless a couple takes a state-sanctioned pre-marital education course. Texas As with all states, it’s important that you … Continue reading →

Marriage in the News – Bill Will Require Marriage Classes

In a real bit of news today (No April Fool’s Day joke here), Nebraska lawmakers are considering a bill that if approved will encourage couples to take eight hours of marriage related classes before receiving their marriage license. While the state cannot force a couple to take these types of classes nor can they mandate the exact content of them, they can encourage couples to seek out these types of relationship classes from different sources including their clergy, marriage counselors or other types of officials. How would the bill work? Couples who took at least eight hours of relationship and … Continue reading →

Marriage Counseling-Part 4- What to Expect in the First Session

The first counseling session is often referred to as the intake session. An intake is essentially a way for the therapist to gather as much information about you, including family history, medical history etc. via their pre-printed intake form. If you are using insurance to pay for part of your session you will also be expected to provide your insurance information for billing purposes. Usually, the Therapist will have a receptionist or secretary who will hand you this form before your session. Give yourself enough time before your appointment to fill the form out in its entirety. Be punctual. Punctuality … Continue reading →

Marriage Counseling-Part 2- Why Couples Seek Counseling

Ask couples why they seek marriage counseling and you will get a plethora of answers. In fact, with one couple you may get two entirely different answers from each person as to what brings them to therapy. Statistically speaking, the number one issue that brings couples into therapy is communication problems. There is a reason that the book Men are From Mars Women are From Venus, by John Gray, was so popular. People can identify with the fact that men and women are different. We are especially different in our communication patterns. Therapists can help couples to identify their unique … Continue reading →

Lessons from an Arranged Marriage

Do you know anyone whose marriage was arranged? I do. I have good friends who are Laotian. He saw her at the grocery store and saw that she was respectful to her parents, was kind and compassionate and decided that he wanted to marry her. So he had his father meet with her father and they agreed on a price to pay for the dowry. And voila–they were married. She of course, agreed to the union as well. It may surprise you to find out that all this happened in the United States and within the last ten years. My … Continue reading →