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Couples today expect their relationship to meet all of their emotional, sexual, financial, social, and spiritual needs. It's no wonder that many people are unhappy in their relationship -- with expectations like these, people are bound to be disappointed. Couples and marriage counseling can help partners engage in a process of soul-searching that, together with a commitment to work on problems until they are solved, improves communication, brings intimacy back, and rekindles a sense of fun and pleasure. Relationships like these are among the most deeply satisfying of all human relationships, and provide an important buffer from the stresses and strains of the outside world. We have extensive training and experience in many approaches to couples and marriage counseling and draw from solid research on the most effective counseling strategies.
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Affairs, cheating, adultery - no matter what you call it, when couples have to face the aftermath of a partner's infidelity, their whole world shatters.
For the hurt partner, it's as if all the love, good times, sex, and intimacy have somehow been a lie. The person they have built their life around now seems like a stranger.
For the straying partner, guilt at seeing their partner's heartache, fear about what the future will bring, and the potential loss of the other person hang overhead like an anvil.
For both partners, the sense of their relationship as a secure, safe haven is lost. It becomes clear that there are hard times and difficult choices ahead. As harsh reality sinks in, many turn to marriage counseling for help.
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The Authentic Happiness Coaching program uses the new field of positive psychology to help individuals realize their potential for lasting fulfillment. Therapists who promote positive psychology attempt to shift at least some of their focus to building human strengths in their clients as a buffer in the prevention of potential future emotional crises. In this view, coaching may soon begin to replace or at least complement therapy in helping people live better lives and surmount their problems. One branch of positive psychology focuses on the science of nurturing sets of strengths, competencies, and virtues such as future-mindedness, hope, interpersonal skills, courage, and the capacity for "flow" and faith.
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Elizabeth Sloan, Clinical Director of Caring Couples, Happy Lives, is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.
Elizabeth has been in practice for 19 years and is a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (AAMFT).
She has a Masters Degree in Marriage & Family Therapy from the University of Maryland; and her Masters degree project was on improving communication in couples.
Elizabeth's counseling practice specializes in preparing couples for marriage, helping couples avoid divorce, rebuilding relationships after an affair or online infidelity,
helping couples recover from the effects of love or sex addiction, and improving a couples' ability to communicate effectively.
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How partners in a relationship or marriage feel about their sex life has a big impact on how satisfied they are in their relationship overall. When a partner is unhappy with their sex life, they are generally unhappy with the whole relationship. While the stereotype is that most of us learned about "the birds and the bees" during an awkward conversation with our parents -- the reality is most people learn about sex from a variety of other sources, such as TV, movies and books, as well as our friends and partners. Many families have unwritten rules and beliefs about sex that we absorb without realizing it. Getting information from these sources creates beliefs and expectations about what a normal sex life looks like. But how much of the information is accurate?
And what effect does it have on a relationship when partners have inaccurate information?
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Life should feel great. If it doesn't, then perhaps counseling can help. Feel free to contact us by E-Mail
or phone toll free (866-588-0477) to learn more about our practice, and schedule a free half-hour phone consultation with one of our clinicians.
Our offices are conveniently located in McLean, Virginia & Glenn Dale, Maryland.
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Studies show that couples who learn proven relationship skills and increase their understanding of each other before marriage have happier, stronger marriages that last. In fact, more and more couples are choosing premarital programs as a way to prepare for marriage.
Overwhelmingly, married couples say that premarital counseling programs helped their marriage. One university study of 1,235 couples found that during their first year of marriage, more than 92 percent of couples said their premarital counseling program was valuable. After four years of marriage, about 80 percent of couples still thought so.
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