Are you engaged to be married? Have you been married for a while, and would like to improve your relationship with your spouse? We use a wide variety of resources to help couples as they take the marriage journey together.

Premarital Counseling:

We have staff that are certified Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts (SYMBIS) Facilitators and facilitators in Prepare and Enrich.  Premarital Counseling usually lasts 3-7 sessions, and covers things such as Marriage Momentum, Mindset towards Marriage, Personal Well-being, Social Supports, Remarriage and Blending a Family, Dynamics of Personalities, Expectations Regarding Finances, Sex, and Relationships with Friends and Families, Communication, Conflict, and Spirituality.

Marital Counseling:

For those who are looking to improve their relationship with their spouse, we use The Gottmann Relationship Checkup to assess how couples are doing in the following areas:

Friendship and Intimacy: Relationship Satisfaction, Romance, Admiration, Emotional Disengagement, Break-up Proneness Safety: Trust, Chaos, Commitment, and Emotional Philosophies Conflict: Stress, Relationships, Harshness, and Conflict Management Tactics Shared System of Meaning: Shared Rituals, Values, and Goals in a Relationship Individual Areas of Concern: Individual Risks, Safety, Sex, Depression, Drug and Alcohol Use, Domestic Violence, Anxiety, and Other Psychological or Psychiatric Issues

This assessment is then used to help specify what issues are most important for a couple to work through as they strive to improve their marriage relationship.

Conflict Resolution

We all have moments of frustration whether they be associated with a friend, a family member, or a disagreement in your everyday life, but there are several positive strategies to utilize when it comes to dealing with conflict.

What qualifies as a conflict?

According to the Office of Human Resource Development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, conflict is understood by analyzing various behaviors and the consequences each behavior produces on individuals living the dilemma.

• Avoidance: This is the person who wishes to ignore the problem and will allow it to dissipate or squander. Unfortunately, quite the contrary is happening in this situation. The problem then swells under the surface until it’s no longer avoidable and will need to be addressed.
• Standing your Ground: People who use this technique may appear controlling and aggressive in their means of communication. They fear not having their needs met if they don’t set the rules and direct the conversation.
• Surrendering: Often perceived as the diplomat, the person using this tactic concedes to the needs of others. They place the needs and opinions of others on their own because preserving the relationship(s) is the ultimate goal.   
• Compromise/Sacrifice: This method is a sort of concession and, while it seems to be a good route to take, it’s not the best approach. People in this category make a sequence of tradeoffs which means they are focusing on what they want as opposed to understanding the other’s viewpoint.  
• Collaborate: People who practice collaboration care about win-win solutions. This simply means that they scout common aspirations and needs, to where every party knows their opinions and feeling are important and are going to be heard. This style needs a lot of cooperation, assertiveness and communication among the parties.

Ultimately, understanding your wants and needs as well as your behavior patterns will establish internal insight. You will have a better understanding for not just yourself, but for others around you and how situations may or may not unfold. This knowledge will give you the preliminary tools for conflict resolution.

Treatment techniques may include the following depending on the therapist:

• Gottman Method
• Narrative Therapy
• Emotionally Focused Therapy
• Positive Psychology
• Imago Relationship Therapy
• Analyzing Your Communication
• Getting to the root of the problem
• Enhancing Intimacy
• Individual Counseling
• Couple Retreat