2 Comments

1. 

   Rick Crevier on March 10, 2018 at 11:11 am

   Does Marriage Counseling Work? Counseling is a health tool for the marriage toolbox, however, unless both partners believe that it is the correct tool to apply to the situation, it will not work. It can have the same impact a using a hammer to drive in a screw. If your partner doesn’t look externally for help to resolve marriage issues, it will never work. This is mentioned through my personal experience.

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     Kim Bowen on March 14, 2018 at 12:57 pm

     Rick, I think I get where you are coming from on this. Ideally, I think you are right. Having both parties on the same page and willing to commit to counseling – and even more importantly, willing to look at their own stuff – is the best-case scenario. Where I diverge from your opinion though is that, UNLESS both are willing, nothing can be accomplished through counseling for the betterment of the relationship. I disagree. Our counselors, and even more so our coaches, work with individuals looking to change, improve and even rescue, their marriage in situations where their spouse is entirely unwilling to do so. This is a much tougher scenario but it’s not a hopeless one. In fact, you’d be amazed at how often the changes by one spouse can impact the unwilling spouse enough that he/she softens toward their spouse, marriage, and the even the idea of counseling. I believe in taking control of what you can control and that is only you, no matter the situation. Respectfully, Kim