Though we are accustomed to hear that marriages were made in heaven, reality is that all relationships were made in heaven. And then God entrusted us humans with the responsibility of protecting these, and help us lead each other into a fulfilling life. But often with the pressures of modern life building upon us, stress, mistrust and misplaced expectations often take a toll, making the strongest of resolves weak, leading to a breakdown in relationships. At this time, we need to realize the urgency of the situation and seek someone who can take a look from the outside, and help us fix the chinks in relationships.
So who are we referring to?
At this point we are referring to a group of talented people. Professionals who are trained in the science of the human psyche and who can objectively judge where we’re going wrong in a relationship and what we can do to fix it. When one seeks counselling to salve a relationship, what they get is a crisp and well defined approach where the relationship counsellors address intimate relationship concerns with the use of psychological tools. With the help of communication and other interpersonal skills, they egg their clients to work out a mutually beneficial plan which will be utilised for the betterment of the relation and make it last longer.
So does relationship counselling just for couples?
No. relationship counselling means trying to breathe life in any relationship, giving it a fresh lease of life. Couple counselling is just a subset of relationship counselling and subsequent therapy. There’s no excuse for people to wriggle out of such counselling sessions stating accessibility and availability issues, because practitioners are available across the globe. Under the umbrella of relationship counselling, what these psychiatric experts aim to do are:
• Making a marriage work
• Helping couples or parties in a relationship understand and respect each other
• Providing personal space to each other
• Education about signs of love, respect, disrespect, trust issues and accountability
In dealing with these issues, psychologists often encounter many hurdles which they expect the relationship holders to patiently overcome. At the start of the therapy, relationship counsellors help people understand that there is a reason why two or more people have peacefully coexisted until now. Helping them figure out the underlying currents which cause disruption in relationships, these experts gently guide people to a point where they realize what may have gone wrong between them. Success for a relationship counsellor happens when people acknowledge the fact that there is a problem in the relationship and they are willing to do something about it. After that it’s a question of personal choice. Those who want to breathe life into their relationships put all their efforts in trying to revive it. Yet there are those who don’t give a damn and are happy to go their separate ways and in such cases it’s again a matter of personal choice where the counsellor can’t do much beyond advice and counselling.