Having your spouse suggest marriage counseling can feel like a painful slap in the face, especially if you thought that your relationship was in a good place previously. Thanks in no small part to how movies and television shows use marriage counseling as a way to quickly communicate that a couple’s relationship is on the rocks, there is a common perception that those who go to marriage counseling will inevitably end up in divorce court.
When your spouse suggests seeing a counselor together, you may resist the idea and may instead think that you should just file for divorce. Thankfully, the statistics show that marriage counseling may actually help.
The vast majority of marital counseling clients benefit from the process
According to research into the success rates of marital counseling, a large percentage of those who attend such sessions will benefit in some way. For roughly 70% of those who commit to marital counseling, the couple will improve their relationship or at least process their circumstances appropriately so that they can make rational decisions.
Marital counseling can help couples that need to learn some new communication or conflict resolution techniques. They can also help families process difficult experiences, ranging from infidelity on the part of one spouse to the unexpected loss of a child. Despite the popular perception that those who attend marriage counseling are doomed to divorce, attending sessions with an earnest intention to work on your marriage could actually benefit both of you.
Securing secondary protections could be a smart step
If you are in the process of finding a marriage counselor, it may also be worth while looking into family law attorneys. A consultation would not be for divorce purposes but rather to draft a postnuptial agreement.
At this time, when both of you are willing to work on your relationship, you are in an ideal position to discuss the details of what might happen if the two of you were to divorce. Those negotiations can actually reduce the likelihood of divorce and give you an opportunity to address misconduct and other issues that have strained your relationship.
Exploring all the ways of protecting yourself from a messy divorce while simultaneously working on your marriage can be the most practical approach when your spouse believes you need marital counseling.