My wife and I hit a plateau in our marriage not 2 years into it. We had a breakdown in communication about halfway through her pregnancy. From that point on it was constant arguing, although we had about a month of peace right around the time the baby was born. My wife had been extremely hormonal during her pregnancy, but that was nothing compared to a nearly debilitating bout of post-partum depression that almost lead to the demise of our marriage.
The idea of marriage counseling manifested when my wife began therapy for post-partum depression. Her therapist recommended that we see a marriage counselor. Cary, NC, where we live, has a number of professionals highly skilled in such arenas--especially since we're near the research triangle. With a little help from her post-partum therapist, we found a couples therapy specialist who we felt very comfortable with, and who had a track record for helping to repair even the most devastated relationships.
When we first began therapy, our marriage counselor told us that he had a great deal of hope for us. After all, we were the perfect candidates for counseling, in that we were still in the infancy of our marriage, we were still in love, and we were both open to the idea of therapy and change. Gradually, we began to discover what each of us needed to do to remedy our respective problems so that we both could bring a sense of openness and responsiveness to the table.
We also learned that even though all couples experience conflict in their marriages, happy couples apparently know how to handle their disputes because of a foundation of friendship and love. We already had the foundation, we just needed to nurture it over time. We were both still young, and in a way, were still learning about ourselves in new, life-changing circumstances. Probably the most important thing my wife and I realized in relationship counseling was that there is quite a distinction between the conflict itself and the process by which it is handled. Typically, it is a breakdown in the process that exacerbates the problem, not the content of the problem itself.
When other married couples ask us if marriage therapy was worth it, we have nothing but positive things to say. We are communicating better, we are laughing and having fun, and we are just happier overall. Most importantly, we have a happy, healthy 13-month old baby girl. Even though we are happy now, we are always looking toward the future. We're both aware that there will always be bumps in the road, so we've decided to continue marriage counseling indefinitely--just to help us maintain stability and satisfaction. I would recommend it to most couples--even if everything is going relatively well in the present, it helps make you stronger for the future.
Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/
Written by Kacy Suther. Raleigh NC marriage counseling is provided by marriage counselors in Raleigh NC at Jeff Levy’s office for relationship counseling. Raleigh NC, Apex, Cary North Carolina served. More info at www.couplescounseling.com .
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