Finding the right marriage counseling therapist makes all the difference in your true success in marriage counseling. There are many different types of people that are available that you can work with, though. You should consider a marriage counselor or a therapist that is licensed. They should have specialized training in helping to counsel couples. When you do find the right person to help you, you’ll feel comfortable with them as well as confident in the fact that they can help you.
Tips You Can Use
Here are a few things to look for in a marriage counselor. Make sure that you trust your instincts, too.
• A licensed mental health professional is one person that you definitely want to consider. These individuals can help people to understand why they feel the way that they do. Some are even designated as specific marriage and family therapists, called LMFT’s. This means that they have gone through detailed, long and advanced training, passed various licensing exams and have even obtained their master’s or doctoral degree.
• Find out what type of experience the individual has in situations like your own. While they can’t tell you specifics about a person, they may be able to help you to understand how they treated others that were going through what you are going through.
• You should find out how much they charge up front. There shouldn’t be any surprises. Some insurance plans do cover mental health including couples counseling. Find out if yours does but always select a marriage counselor that you feel comfortable with first.
• Determine how many sessions they would like to see you for. Most of the time it takes more than one or two chats to fully deal with the problem. Nevertheless, your budget may not allow for many either.
• They should be able to work with your schedules. Find out when they can get you in and determine if this works for your needs.
Above all else, you need to feel comfortable with the person that you are talking to. You should feel like you can tell them anything, although this may take a few sessions to get to. If you don’t like their personality or their style, chances are good that you won’t be able to work with them easily. An experienced, professional person that you feel confident in is the best person to seek marriage counseling from.
There is a free online counseling resource at http://goodtherapy.org that anyone searching for a marriage counselor can take advantage of. The website features a therapist/counselor search engine organized by location. Each therapist profile states the licenses and titles the individual holds, as well as small personal biography. I hope this information will help those looking to find personal, non-pathologizing therapy in their communities.
-Greta Kopperud