Couples Counseling: Managing Outside Pressures

Emotional distance, loss of intimacy, and infidelity are some of the most common reasons that bring couples to couples counseling.

Whether you struggle with poor communication, want to improve intimacy, or are having trouble moving on after an affair, couples therapy can be a safe place to:

• understand where your problems are coming from
• learn to communicate better
• rekindle your connection.

Relationship counseling, however, may also be very beneficial in overcoming crises brought on by external pressures like the most recent Hurricane Ian.

Hurricane Ian, Florida's deadliest hurricane since 1935, claimed the lives of at least 119 people in the state. If you or someone you know experiences or witnesses something like this, it could cause anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Furthermore, external stresses such as natural disasters might influence our behavior and impact our relationships.

How Can Relationship Therapy Help You Get Through a Crisis?

While we are often unaware of it, situational factors play a significant role in how we feel, think, and behave. For example, stress after witnessing a hurricane may have exacerbated communication problems, personal differences, or the fragile mental health of you or your partner.

The stress that a hurricane or any other external circumstance may trigger causes many couples to distance themselves rather than come together in times of crisis.

Couples counseling online or in person can increase your resilience, help you find ways to come together, and support each other through difficult times.

Couples Counseling Can Help Improve Your Communication

Stress, uncertainty, and worry can make you hypersensitive, causing you to lash out at your spouse for the smallest of reasons. You might also retreat and isolate yourself. Both reactivity and withdrawal may strain your relationship, making it difficult to live together.

A relationship therapist may educate you on how to have stress-relieving conversations and lean on each other instead of taking it out on one another when stressed out.

For example, instead of projecting your feelings onto your partner, you could learn to listen actively and ask questions.

Couples counseling can also help you learn how to talk honestly and be vulnerable with each other, rekindling your intimacy.

Marriage Therapy Can Help Increase Resilience

Being able to adapt to adversity and bounce back after hardship contributes to good mental health, healthy relationships, and general well-being.

Marriage counseling can be a great opportunity to work through your emotions and build resilience. You can learn helpful strategies to manage stress, anger, and other difficult emotions, focus on your strengths, and set boundaries.

Relationship Therapy Can Help Nurture Honesty and Trust

Knowing that your partner "has your back" can be good for your relationship and give you peace of mind when things go wrong. A relationship therapist may help you build trust and honesty in your relationship, which will make it easier to deal with problems when they come up.

In addition, couples counseling online or at your counselor's office can be a fantastic opportunity to work on your empathy and put yourself in each other's shoes. This is essential to feeling seen, heard, and understood, and protecting your relationship from stress when navigating a crisis.

If you have experienced these issues in your relationship, call today to schedule with our couple’s therapist Janean Byrne, MS, LMHC. (239) 603-1100

Janean Byrne is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in Fort Myers, FL. She specializes in couples counseling and couples’ therapy. She works with couples to enhance their communication, connection, and friendship. Janean is passionate about helping couples stay together, which she believes has become increasingly difficult today. She is trained in Level II John Gottman Couples Training and Certified in Prepare Enrich for Couples. Janean Byrne also enjoys working with families with adult children and individuals involved or previously involved in emotional abusive relationships with partners exhibiting narcissistic or borderline personality traits.