Often, people seeking marriage counseling come to my office at their breaking point. They’ve been struggling in their marriage for months, years, or even decades, and are making a last-ditch effort to save it. This kind of situation fills me with regret—I so wish that these folks would have come in sooner!
Marriage counseling should not be thought of as a last resort. It is not like an amputation, which you do only after every other possible option has been exhausted—in fact, it’s much cheaper and less painful! Marital therapy should instead be seen in the same light as physical therapy: it’s something you do when you are experiencing pain and need healing. If your body/relationship is perfectly healthy, you might not need it. But if there has been some wound or perhaps decline in functioning over an extended period, therapy is a vital tool for getting it back on track.
With physical therapy, we do not consider a person who seeks it to be weak or incapable; unless you are a physical therapist yourself, you are unlikely to know exactly what the problem is or what exercises will best rectify it. So, too, is the case in marital therapy—why should we expect everyone to know how to handle all the problems that can come up in a marriage? Your spouse is not you. They grew up in a different environment, with a different family, perhaps in a different culture, and therefore they have different expectations, behaviors, and perspectives than you. Even if you are extremely self-aware, it is different to deeply know someone else, and then to understand the dynamics between you that form your relationship. That’s why an expert is needed—a marriage therapist.
Sometimes people explain that they wanted to “try to deal with it on our own first.” That’s like saying you broke your foot and you want to try to deal with that on your own.
Sometimes people explain that they wanted to “try to deal with it on our own first.” That’s like saying you broke your foot and you want to try to deal with that on your own. Certainly, there are people who do this—walk on a painful foot for weeks because they don’t want to appear “weak” or spend money on a doctor’s visit—but after weeks of walking on an injured foot, things are typically no better (and often worse) for having neglected it for so long. Similarly, people frequently avoid taking steps to get professional help with their marital problems, thinking it makes them weak to need such help, or out of reluctance to pay for potential solutions. The result is more damage to the already ailing relationship.
The truth is it is no more a sign of weakness to seek marriage counseling than it is to go get a cast on a broken bone. No person is an island, as they say—human beings are not designed to make it through life on their own. Anyone who pretends otherwise may be fooling themselves. I need a doctor when I’m sick, I need a guide when I’m lost, I need a friend when I’m lonely—and I need a therapist when my emotional life is not as it should be. There is no shame in that. The real shame is to let a relationship wither because of a refusal to seek help. It’s just unnecessary.
If you feel your relationship is not where you want it to be, I urge you to seek counseling before you get to the breaking point. Marriage counselors can help, and if you have a good one, it shouldn’t be nearly as painful as setting a broken bone. Do yourself and your partner a favor—reach out for help before things get worse.
The preceding article was solely written by the author named above. Any views and opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by GoodTherapy.org. Questions or concerns about the preceding article can be directed to the author or posted as a comment below.
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