Jennifer A. Manning, LICSW
Individual & Family Therapist
Tel: 218.416.2268
Therapy for Couples
What to expect in Couples Therapy
Clients come into couples counseling for various reasons. Some are in crises after experiencing an infidelity or traumatic life event, or simply in a crisis state because the struggles have become extremely hard to bear and one or both members of the couple just can’t take it anymore. Some couples see themselves going down a wrong path and want to improve their relationship before it gets to a crisis state. Some feel distant and not connected to their partner. What ties all couples together is the recognition that they just can’t mend their relationship alone and they are reaching out from help.
HOW IT WORKS
YOUR FIRST COUPLES SESSION
I seek to create safety in therapy so couples can feel they have landed in a place of HOPE. There will be individual forms that you will be asked to fill out prior to your scheduled time for session. This is to optimize the amount of time spent talking in session. I will ask you what you are struggling with and what brought you to counseling. This can be an anxious time for couples and I understand that. It is difficult to speak with a stranger about what you are both struggling with, and this is absolutely OK. I am open to processing these emotions and wanting to talk about how you feel in relationship to the therapy.
WHAT TO TALK ABOUT IN COUPLES COUNSELING
You can expect to use most of the time describing to the therapist what the core issues are that brought you in. Your therapist will hear from both of you and reflect back my understanding of what is going on between you both, and an initial plan of what therapy would look like and what you can expect. Sometimes, when couples are in the middle of a crisis, it may take several sessions to clearly articulate everything that is happening and what the path forward looks like. Couples counseling takes time and the first session is just the very beginning of a long term healing relationship with your therapist.
You can expect many feelings to come up after the first session. Some couples forget what was talked about because the emotions were just too overwhelming, while some couples continue the conversation after session and find progress already made. Others feel very hopeful that their therapist can help them – all couples are different and the range of what is experienced is vast. An important piece here is to talk with your therapist on the second session about what the experience was like for you because it will help set the pace and structure for the work.