Monday, August 24, 2009

First Step in Couples Therapy: Finding Hope

My job is to help couples find hope that things can get better and the skills to make it happen. I promise couples that I will not let them get into those escalating fights here in my office, but rather…

use the time we are together to experience a new, more comfortable way to talk with each other. I help normalize things as well.

We judge ourselves so harshly. It’s usually helpful for couples to learn that they are not the only ones having a hard time building a strong marriage.

I have been married since 1982 and understand how challenging life can be. Add raising a successful daughter in the context of a complicated culture and I fully understand how easy it is to lose hope that things can get better.

One of the (maybe only!) good things about getting older is the deep awareness that "this too shall pass."

Bad times, worked through to a healthy resolution (not always in our favor) will lead to a strengthening of our ability to face both adversity and failure, as well as, happiness and success.

Finding hope is the first step.

No comments:

Post a Comment