(504) 302-7771

MARRIAGE COUNSELING IN NEW ORLEANS

When you come to our practice for marriage counseling services you can expect to be matched with a experienced, licensed therapist.

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Personalized Therapy

Compassionate Marriage Counseling in New Orleans

Are you looking for marriage counseling or couples counseling in the New Orleans area? If you are, that’s OK. You are not alone.

Sometimes “happily ever after” doesn’t look like what you, your spouse, or your partner originally envisioned. And the truth is, there’s no wonder why there’s a difference between your initial expectations and your current reality!

During the wedding planning stage, you and your spouse were anticipating living the rest of your lives together at the height of excitement in your relationship. But after you said “I do” and the honeymoon phase ended, real life set in.

For example, you might be experiencing stress from work, be so busy raising children that you have a hard time focusing on your relationship, or be worried about your family’s finances.

While all of these marriage and relationship stressors are normal, they’re also a good reason to meet with one of our marriage counselors to help focus on your relationship with your spouse, reprioritize your lives together, and learn better communication skills. For some, marriage counseling is an absolute must after a marriage crisis, such as a spouse or partner who is dealing with an addiction or one who has been unfaithful.

Meet Our Counselors
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Full-Service Therapy in New Orleans

We Provide Marriage Counseling For Couples In New Orleans

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Our marriage counselors work with married couples throughout the New Orleans, Metairie, and Kenner areas to help strengthen and improve marriages and relationships. We believe in the institution of marriage, and our goal is to help you and your spouse resolve any issues you may have in your marriage, gain conflict resolution skills, and achieve true marital bliss.

What You Can Expect

When you come to our practice for marriage counseling services, you can expect to be matched with a licensed professional counselor who has experience working with married couples and wants to see your marriage succeed. He or she will work diligently to get to know you and your spouse and build a rapport so you feel comfortable discussing the stressors in your relationship. You can also expect your couples counselor to be impartial. Your marriage counselor isn’t in the counseling room to pick a side between the two of you. Rather, your counselor will help facilitate a healthy dialogue between you and your spouse, share proven steps for resolving marital crises and rebuilding trust in a marriage, and teach you both how to better understand each other and communicate with one another. In some cases, your couples counselor may feel that you and your spouse will also benefit from individual counseling with a licensed therapist, in addition to marriage counseling. In this case, your couples counselor can refer each of you to licensed professional counselors in our practice, so you can begin individual counseling. If you, your spouse, or your marriage counselor feel it’s necessary, we can also refer you to a licensed psychotherapist or Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the Greater New Orleans, Metairie, or Kenner area. Rest assured, everything you and your spouse say during your couples therapy session will stay within the walls of your counseling room. Our marriage counselors only discuss your sessions with a third party if you have both given us your written consent to discuss your case.

Family Therapists in New Orleans

ASSISTING ENGAGED COUPLES WITH PRE-MARITAL COUNSELING

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If you’re getting ready to walk down the aisle, you definitely need to add pre-marital counseling to your wedding to-do list! In fact, according to statistics, nearly 44% of couples seek pre-marital counseling before tying the knot.

Pre-marriage counseling is extremely helpful for engaged couples and sometimes required if you’re getting married in a church. This type of couples therapy often helps brides-to-be and grooms-to-be think about and discuss potential issues that may arise during a marriage and how they plan to deal with them

Reasons New Orleans Residents Seek Us Out for Counseling

There are a variety of reasons that New Orleans residents come to us for regular counseling sessions. These include:

Assisting Engaged Couples with Pre-Marital Counseling

If you’re getting ready to walk down the aisle, you definitely need to add pre-marital counseling to your wedding to-do list! In fact, according to statistics, nearly 44% of couples seek pre-marital counseling before tying the knot.

Pre-marriage counseling is extremely helpful for engaged couples and sometimes required if you’re getting married in a church. This type of couples therapy often helps brides-to-be and grooms-to-be think about and discuss potential issues that may arise during a marriage and how they plan to deal with them.

Communication Is Key

Common topics covered during pre-marital counseling sessions with a licensed therapist include:

  • Learning how to communicate with your soon-to-be spouse without fighting, especially after your post-nuptial “honeymoon phase” has worn off or during life transitions. It’s important to know how to resolve fights with loved ones in a productive way when they do eventually happen.
  • Discussing whether or not you will combine finances and, based on this decision, how you’ll manage money in your marriage. This is extremely important because marital money fights and money problems are the #1 cause of divorce in the United States.

Open Discussion

  • Thinking about whether or not you plan to have children, and if so, sharing and brainstorming your philosophies and expectations for raising children. For example, how will you will discipline your future children? Will one spouse stay home with your children? Will both work? You might also discuss your thoughts feelings about raising your children within a certain faith. It’s a good idea to discuss these topics and more ahead of time so there won’t be any surprises.
  • If you’re part of what is known as the “sandwich generation,” discussing if and how you will care for and support your aging parents if they need help during their retirement years.

Discussing each of your needs for self-care and stress management amid life’s trials. This helps you understand each other’s needs better, help protect each other’s well-being, and be there for one another.

Marriage Therapy in New Orleans

Contact Us Today for a Happier, Healthier Marriage

 

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Our New Orleans counseling service and our marriage counselors have years of experience in the field. They’re ready to help you and your spouse have a happy and successful marriage. We also strive to help engaged couples mindfully prep for a long and healthy marriage.

We have a few ways you can reach us to learn more about our counseling services and schedule an initial appointment with a marriage counselor. You can fill out our contact form to ask any questions and we’ll respond promptly by email. Alternatively, please call us to discuss your marriage counseling needs at (504) 302-7771. We offer in-person marriage counseling appointments and telehealth therapy for your convenience.

Whatever your reason for seeking couples therapy, remember, our couples counselors at Behavioral Health Counseling and Consulting are here to help!

Qualities To Look For In A Marriage Counselor

While there are lots of great counselors, therapists, social workers, psychologists, and other helping professionals in the New Orleans area, not all of them are trained to counsel marriage specifically. In this post, I’ll describe a few qualities that you should look for when considering a competent couple’s counselor.

Look for a Marriage Counselor that…

1. Makes you both initially comfortable (don’t worry… it won’t last). Upon your first meeting the counselor should spend some time with both of you together, and in that context both of you should feel comfortable talking to the counselor. Part of the first few of sessions should be about connecting with both of you and helping both of you share your experience in the relationship. Eventually, the counselor will need to press you both more, making one or both of your more uncomfortable, but this only works if it is based upon trust and connection.
2. Doesn’t take sides – all the time (or at least takes sides fairly equally). Your friends and family take your side; your counselor should not, not all of the time. Your counselor should not gang up with you against your partner except in extreme cases. In most cases, it’s when the counselor stays more neutral, and helps you explore your part in the ongoing conflict, that will be most helpful.
3. Puts your relationship first (above either of your individual personalities, complaints, or justifications). I often tell my clients that their relationship, their marriage, is my primary client. My work is to improve their relationship, not just their individual experiences. You can work on individual issues in individual counseling, but if you do it will impact your relationships (often for the better, but not always). My job is to improve your relationship.

4. Looks for what is working (even though it feels like it sucks!). Though your relationship is probably in significant distress, it’s probably not completely dysfunctional every moment of every day. A counselor should take time to explore what is already working now.
5. Engenders HOPE (it can always get a bit better). No matter how bad it is now, it can get better. And if you don’t have the belief for that truth, your counselor should. I’ve personally seen marriage overcome tremendous distress, disappointment, and distrust – sometimes to my own surprise! While conflict and pain are part of relationships, it can always improve.

And on a final note, your counseling professional should be specifically trained in marriage counseling, and many are not. Counseling marriage requires particular expertise, and many counseling professionals do not have adequate training. Ask your potential counselor about their training and certification in counseling marriage. Also, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy maintains a list of members in your area (aamft.org), which is a helpful resource in searching for a professional trained in relational therapies. More locally, the Louisiana Professional Counseling Board website maintains a list of licensed marriage and family therapists (LMFTs).

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