Are you considering marriage counseling? You may be wondering if seeing a counselor will help.
As a marriage counselor, I would say the most important factor in the success of counseling is the attitude of the couple. Does the couple really want to save the marriage or is counseling just a step filing for a divorce. Saving the marriage requires work on both the part of the wife and the husband. The counselor can't do the work for you and is not a miracle worker with a magic wand.
You may ask is there any research on the effectiveness of marriage counselors" Yes. So what does this research show?
In a survey of people who had been clients of marriage and family counselors the participants indicated that the people say a counselors for a wide range of issues. The sessions were short-term fashion. The client satisfaction and functional improvement are quite high.
The specific ratings were:
- 98.1% rated services good or excellent
- 97.1% got the kind of help they desired
- 91.2% were satisfied with the amount of help they received
- 93% said they were helped in dealing more effectively with problems
- 94.3% would return to the same therapist in the future
- 96.9% would recommend their therapist to a friend
- 97.4% were generally satisfied with the service they received
- 63.4% reported improved physical health
- 54.8% reported improvement in functioning at work
- 73.7% indicated improvement in children’s behavior
- 58.7% showed improvement in children’s school performance
Does Marriage Counseling work? It can .. if you are willing to work and change.
Doherty, W.J., Simmons, D.S. (2007) "Clinical Practice Patterns of Marriage and Family Therapists: A National Survey of Therapists and Their Clients", Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (22)1, 9-25
Cheryl Gowin
www.discoverycounseling.org
