Posts Tagged ‘couples counselor’
What Is The Couple Counselor Annual Visit About?
When we think of going to the doctor, we often imagine steely tools, long waiting rooms and rubber gloves. However, Dr. James Cordova, Ph.D. (from Clark University in Worcester Massachusetts) envisions an annual marriage checkup to keep relationships healthy and strong. “Marital satisfaction improves for couples who have been through the Marriage Checkup and for “control couples” who aren’t improving,” he reported after running a six-month study of 136 couples visiting a couples counselor trained in mid-level interventions.
Most of the people in Cordova’s couples counselor study were around 47 years old for husbands and 44 years old for wives, married for an average of fifteen years, although there are some newlyweds and some seniors also involved. Typically, they’ll videotape a couple discussing a problem and the counselors will review it later. “We watch them talk about a problem in their relationship together,” Cordova explains. Two weeks later, he can point out strengths and weaknesses in the tape, then presenting a “menu of options” for dealing with the situations. Sometimes couples may need to see licensed professional counselors, read books or simply spend more time together. Six months later, the couple will respond via a questionnaire to report their progress.
The initial results of these annual counseling sessions for couples have been promising, Cordova reports. In the first 68 couples, most reported increased marital satisfaction, improvements in intimacy and a higher level of cooperation and acceptance in their households. “People that have been through the marriage checkup are improving in all kinds of ways in comparison to couples who haven’t.” He admits that some couples will undoubtedly relapse, as anyone would in medical or emotional therapy, yet those with access to treatment always fare better.
“Essentially, what we’ve discovered over time is that marital health is really a health concern. The qualities of a person’s marriage and the extent to which they are doing well in that marriage has a dramatic effect on physical health and mental health,” said Cordova. He points out that many studies reveal that couples who stay together often live longer, but also that those who attend sessions with a couples counselor experience fewer physical health issues. Compared to the cost of other treatments, counseling for marriage is extremely low, so why not make a few phone calls today?
Tags: couples counselor, licensed professional counselors, the counselors
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Apr 2nd, 2009