Those who are experiencing relationship and communication problems can meet with a Marriage Counselor for the purpose of improving their marriage or relationship.
Marriage Counseling takes a holistic approach in making the primary focus of the therapy on the relationship, rather than solely on the individuals in the marriage. Many therapists offer adjunctive Marriage or Couples Counseling to supplement one's individual or family therapy and many therapists specialize in Marriage Counseling or Family Therapy, and have a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) license. The same theorists who were at the forefront of family therapy such as Murray Bowen and Virginia Satir, of course, contributed to Marriage Counseling, as has Dr. John Gottman, a recent phenomenon in the field of marriage research.
When undergoing Marriage Counseling it may seem that your "relationship" is the "client" as you, your partner, and your therapist work together to determine what your goals are within your relationship. A Marriage Counselor will also be on the lookout for other feelings or experiences that are being "brought into" the relationship. You, your partner, and your therapist will look at patterns that show up between you, as well as other internal and external experiences that impact the relationship. With that in mind, those patterns are likely to show up in your sessions, just as they do outside of it. When they do, your Marriage Counselor may also encourage you to explore them as they occur, "in the now," in order to support you in adopting more helpful patterns, roles, and ways of communicating.
There are a multitude of different approaches to Marriage Counseling, Imago Therapy, for example, explores how we, unconsciously, choose a partner who reflects back the very things that we must "work on." The inevitable conflicts that arise in relationships are actually ways to explore what you, yourself, can start healing. Your partner becomes a "mirror" of sorts, reflecting back what is in your subconscious world. In Emotionally Focused Therapy, partners are encouraged to examine how communication styles, or "attachment" experiences present themselves in their current communication and interactions.
