Welcome To Marriage Counseling Atlanta

Welcome to Marriage Counseling Atlanta

I know it’s probably a tough time right now, but I am glad you are here. The fact that you are here is actually a good thing. It means you haven’t given up. You recognize there are problems in your relationship and you are willing to do something about it.

At Marriage Counseling Atlanta, we believe that your marriage is worth fighting for, and that it is never too late.

First of all, know that you are not alone. Millions of couples have been in exactly your situation and have gone on to achieve very successful, long term marriages. It doesn’t have to be the end. In fact, it is normal for all relationships to have their ups and their downs.

All marriages have their dark times. The most successful marriages are those who refuse to give up. They are willing to push through the dark times and find ways to reconnect, rebuild trust and communication, and achieve deeper levels of love and commitment.

So, welcome. Thanks for stopping by. If you are looking for a marriage counselor in Atlanta, we will recommend several good ones. If you are the type who would rather work things out on your own and simply need a little guidance, we can help you with that as well. There are many options besides formal couples counseling.

Has your relationship experienced any of these problems?

Conflicts that have been left unresolved for too long
Lack of sex/intimacy
Excessive fighting and arguments
Poor communication
Busy schedules and pressure from work
Suffocating partner
Children issues
Trial separation
Infidelity

These may seem irreversible and impossible to overcome. But long as you are willing to fight for your marriage (even if you are the only one), there is hope. It doesn’t matter what has happened up to this point. Couples have gotten through problems much worse than yours. There is always a way to move forward.

If you feel that things are falling apart in your marriage, it can be difficult to know what to do. How do you navigate through all the issues and emotions involved?

That is where some people turn to marriage counselors or couples therapy. Marriage counseling sessions will help you identify and work through the issues affecting your relationship. If you’ve lost the ability to talk about these things with each other, your marriage counselor or family therapist can help guide you through this process.

Sometimes family counseling can help as well. Often times, your relationship problems are not just been you and your partner. There could be issues arising from other family dynamics such as children, parents, and in-laws. Work pressure, financial pressure, and holidays can have an impact as well.

However, many times one partner is unwilling to see a counselor. They may be unwilling or unable to discuss their private life with a stranger. They may see marriage counseling as one last expensive step before divorce.

These objections are understandable and quite common. Some might say that a marriage counselor’s business is to extend the process for as long as possible so that he or she can continue to get paid. That’s one way to look at it. But marriage recovery is not an instant process. It takes time and commitment from both individuals.

So what happens if your partner is unwilling to participate in counseling sessions? Easy, there are a number of self-directed programs designed to guide you through the process at your own pace. No expensive therapy sessions are required. In fact, it is very common for marriage counselors to recommend these self-directed guides in addition to their formal counseling sessions.

Which ever way you go, just keep going. With a little time and effort, your marriage will be stronger and deeper than it ever was before.

Couples Counseling Atlanta

A marriage counselor or family therapist can play a crucial role in helping you begin the healing process in your relationship. Of course it requires diligent effort and patience from you and your partner as well.

It is important to take the time to select the right counselor. You will want to make the decision together. It is important you both feel comfortable with your choice.

When selecting a marriage counselor, I recommend interviewing them first. Find out about their overall approach. Ask them to describe their method of therapy. Do they have a structured approach? Do they give you “homework” to do outside the office or is everything done during formal office sessions. Do they prefer just to let you talk it out? Will you meet with the counselor separately or together? Ask them to tell you about their success stories.

I would also recommend asking them about how they charge and how many sessions they typically require. They probably won’t be able to give you an exact number on the number of sessions required, but it doesn’t hurt to get a general idea of what you are getting yourselves into. Also, look to see if you have an insurance plan that covers this type of therapy.

I also recommend that you ask for references. As you might imagine, most of the time people will want to keep their information confidential. Some counselors, however, can provide phone numbers for past clients who are willing to talk about their experiences. So it never hurts to ask. This way, you can get a 3rd person account about the therapist and their methods. Even if you can’t interview past clients, the therapist might be able to show you some past client testimonials.

The most important factor in choosing a couples counselor is to choose one that you both feel confident and comfortable with. You need to feel that you can open up with the therapist and that her or she is going to help you.

There are a number of great marriage counselors in the Atlanta area. Here are a few to get you started:

The Woodsfellow Institute for Couples Therapy
Druid Chase Office Park
2801 Buford Hwy NE
Suite 295
Atlanta, GA 30329
(404) 325-3401

Dr. David Phillips
Atlanta Psychology
900 Circle 75 Parkway
Suite 682
Atlanta, GA 30339
(770) 850-4848

Wayne D. Parker, Ph.D.
4651 Roswell Road, N.E.
Suite H-701
Atlanta, GA 30342
(404) 252-2659

Louis McLeod, Ph.D.
Pine River Psychotherapy Associates
1145 Sheridan Rd. N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30324
(404) 325-8512 Ext: 723

Jennifer A., Watts, Ph.D., LMFT
25-B Lenox Pointe, NE
Atlanta, GA 30324
(404) 266-0962 ext. 2

DIY Marriage Counseling Options – For When Your Partner Doesn’t Want To Go

At Marriage Counseling Atlanta, we know that many people are not open to the idea of exploring their inner most thoughts and feeling with a stranger. Even more, we understand that multiple expensive counseling sessions may seem like an expensive waste of time, especially when one partner has given up on the marriage.

Marriage counseling can be very effective, but it is not for everyone. That’s why we have researched several self-directed counseling alternatives. Even if you do go see a marriage counselor, there is a good chance that he or she will recommend one of these guides.

The benefit of these guides is that they provide a non-threatening series of steps that a couple can follow to explore and work through their issues at their own pace. You don’t have to even be at the same location, but it does help to come together and talk through your findings.

I have one do-it-yourself marriage guide that I like to recommend. I wrote a review of it here. But there are others. Just make sure that you select one with a step-by-step plan of action and exercises.

The second benefit of this type of guide is that it opens up communication between the two of you. As you complete each exercise, share the results with your partner. Often, many marriage problems are the result of a fundamental mis-communication or mis-understanding. It could be that you have very different expectations or needs when it comes to demonstrating respect and love.

The third benefit is that a self directed marriage counseling guide can help show your partner the benefit of counseling. A formerly reluctant partner may start to see the value of this process and see hope for your future together. Given a little time, your partner may even be willing to attend formal marriage counseling.

Most people have no idea what they are doing in marriage. They meet, fall in love, and decide to get married, all the while lost in a swirl of emotions. Then as the honeymoon infatuation period fades, they have to figure out how to chart a course through the rest of their lives. Those who make it to the finish line at a ripe old age have a deep love and respect for each other that is hard for most of us to imagine until we get there.

Whether you want to rebuild a relationship or grow even closer, it helps to have a good road-map.

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Essential Guide To Marriage Recovery – Are You At Least Willing To Try?

Hi there,

Every now and then, I get the chance to review the latest DIY marriage counseling and marriage recovery books. I’m usually not that impressed with most of them. That was, until recently when I came into contact with Amy Waterman. Amy, online author of Save My Marriage Today gave me the chance to look over her book and provide feedback on what I thought. At first I was skeptical, but I thought, hey, I have friends who are in bad marriages, and this information might be good for one of them, so I decided to read it closely and see what insights it could offer me about reconnecting and improving relationships.

Click here to check out her site.

By the time I had finished, I was hooked! I realized for the first time, that this book would be absolutely essential for couples who are serious about solving their marital difficulties, and I don’t just mean young couples either. This book applies to couples young and old. No matter what your marriage situation, if you are male or female, or how many years you have been married, there are tips and tools that can assist every couple with developing sound communication and conflict resolution techniques.

Everybody knows someone who is in a difficult or failing marriage, or it may even be you…..

Nobody said marriage was ever going to be easy, and if they did, they were lying. It’s perfectly normal in a marriage to have disagreements and times when things involve a little more effort than they used to. In an ideal world we would sit and talk about these changes and differences in a calm and rational manner, and establish an outcome and move on. Unfortunately things don’t always work like that. Its all too easy to get caught up in the moment and let things deteriorate to the point where you are both wondering why you are still in it.

Amy has developed a course that encourages couples to break the ice and develop ways to interact and strengthen their failing relationship. She deals with topics such as:

Tips on how to rescue your marriage

How to reintroduce passion

How to repair your marriage after an affair

Self assessment

Gestures that are more important than words

And much, much more….

My first impression of the course was how well laid out it is, in neat, graphically designed ebooks. This is someone who takes their craft seriously and I am immediately confident that I have purchased a professional course that takes both me and my marriage seriously.

I was also pretty impressed with the content, not only with the theory but the accompanying exercises at the end of many chapters that helped cement the concepts and apply it to real life marriages.

The other thing that impressed me is the sheer volume of information, both in the two main Save My Marriage Today ebooks, but also the accompanying bonus ebooks as well. In total it is one of the most comprehensive marriage saving courses I have seen assembled!

Over 2 million couples divorce every year, and many of those could have been avoided if those couples communicated and applied the techniques that Amy shows us in her life-changing course. She can’t work miracles and save every marriage, but if you are serious about resurrecting the love you once had for your partner and saving your marriage, you should maximize your chances and read and apply the relationship advice that Amy has to offer.

Amy is able to identify where you have been going wrong, and shows you how to avoid those crucial mistakes that actually jeopardize your chances of saving your failing marriage.

In addition to this she has included a free email consultation so that customers can discuss any specific problems or further clarification that the course doesn’t already cover.

I really do believe Amy is onto a good thing here, and she really can help you save your marriage!

The techniques she reveals are thought provoking and have been proven over and over to help save marriages. I was very impressed when I finished reading this material and have recommended it to everyone I know.

But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself!

Click here to take a look for yourself.

I promise you won’t be disappointed, and best of all, it could turn your life around. For a fraction of the cost of formal marriage counseling in Atlanta, you can save your marriage!

To your success!

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An Important Question That All Couples Should Ask

Here is an important question that could make a huge difference in your relationship.

Take a moment, and ask yourself the following question:

“What do I need from my partner in order to feel loved?”

Really. Spend a few moments thinking about this and then write down your answer. Go ahead. I’ll wait…

Now have your partner do the same thing. The key is to be as specific as possible and write down as many examples as you can think of. When you are both finished, take some time to share the results with each other.

Many people complain that they don’t feel loved enough by their partner. Or they complain that they are giving love without receiving enough in return.

Maybe your partner is constantly expressing his or her love to you, but you are missing the signals.

My wife and I tried this exercise recently and we were both surprised by the results.

When I answered this question, I wrote:

“In order to feel loved, I need my wife to give me affectionate glances, smiles, and touches. I know whether or not she loves me by her body language and tone of voice.”

When my wife answered the same question, she wrote:

“I like him to do little things for me. I like to receive unexpected gifts or actions. But most of all, I like him to do things that need to be done around the house without having to ask him to do them.”

Now I already new her opinions about household chores and I am working on that. But what was most interesting is that we had completely different needs in terms of feeling loved.

Up until that point, I had been showing my love by doing all the things for her that I wanted to receive in return. She was doing all the things for me that were important to her. So we were each expressing our love for each other, but we were both missing the response. As a result, we were both feeling unloved, when the truth was the exact opposite.

So just by this simple insight, we were able to change our strategies and adjust our expectations. We each learned how to express our love in different ways in order to help each other feel more loved. We also learned that the love had been there all along, we just didn’t recognize it.

Give it a try and see what you find out.

You can find other questions like this one here.

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Why Not Try A Second Honeymoon?

In this post at Marriage Counseling Atlanta, I will share an idea that I originally wrote for two of my friends who were in the process of getting a divorce. Unfortunately I was too late. I lived too far away to intervene and they had already gone too far down the wrong path.

My main idea was this:

Instead of planning a divorce or a trial separation, why not do the opposite. Plan a second honeymoon.

I know, it probably sounds crazy to suggest this to any one dealing with problems in their relationship, but keep reading.

Instead of focusing on your problems and your unhappiness… instead of focusing on how things are so messed up… instead of feeling suffocated by the pressures of work, life, children, traffic, etc… why not focus on something positive that you can both look forward to?

Do you see the difference? You can spend your time dwelling on the negative or you can create a light at the end of the tunnel, an enjoyable happy goal that will take you out of pressures of everyday life and give you a much needed change of venue.

So go ahead and plan a second honeymoon. Talk to your partner and dream a little. What have you always talked about doing but never got around to it? Do you have a shared activity that you each enjoy doing? What is your idea of paradise? Hawaii? A beach in Thailand? Riding a bike down the Oregon coast? A motorcycle ride across Africa?

Plan something big, something far away from your ordinary lives. Make it something that you both look forward to, a happy vision for your future together.

But don’t just plan or think about this. Take action. Pick up some brochures from a travel agency. Rent a video. Print out some prices. Take the first steps towards making it real.

The goal is to get rid of all of the pressures of life that have been dragging you down, change locations, go somewhere wonderful, and have an adventure together.

With something so positive and fun to look forward to, you’ll have a whole new attitude when it comes to working through things with your marriage counselor or our recommended marriage self-help guide.

Good luck. Your tropical island awaits.

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