If you are having problems at home, you may consider family counseling or marriage counseling. Both of these options can help you resolve conflicts and build your communication skills, but which one is right for you? Here we will compare marriage therapy and family therapy to help you better understand your options.
The Difference between Marriage Counseling and Family Counseling
The biggest difference between marriage counseling and family counseling is the people involved. Marriage counseling focuses on the needs of the couple. Family counseling can include any number of people in the family – parents, children, grandparents, co-parents, etc. Family counseling may only involve one parent and one child, or it may include an entire household.
Either counseling setup can be used to address whatever your concerns may be. If you are having difficulties in your relationship, you may be better off working on those together, just the two of you. If there are difficulties amongst the family, you could work with a family counselor to resolve your differences and strengthen your bonds.
The Benefits of Using Both
Many of our clients benefit from a combination of counseling setups, which may include individual counseling, marriage counseling, and/or family counseling. Issues in your marriage may have created issues in your family as well. You can address the core problems during marriage therapy, and then you can work on the resulting issues in family therapy. Example: your child developed anxiety because of arguments in the household. Marriage counseling could bring closure to the arguments, while family counseling could help your child manage or overcome anxiety.
Finding the Right Combination of Counseling Services
Which counseling setup is right for you? Should you pursue marriage counseling and individual counseling? Would you be better with just family counseling? Which options will best address your needs?
When you contact Sherman Counseling at 920-733-2065, we can help you decide which therapy programs will help you the most. In many instances, a person will come in for individual counseling first to get a feel for how therapy works. This also gives them a chance to pinpoint the struggles they’re going through so they can find solutions that fit their life. If you chose to do this, you could pursue family counseling and/or marriage counseling at any time. Talk to your spouse about your goals, and select a counseling setup that works for your family.
