Counseling Before Marriage

Does Counseling Before Marriage Help?

Marriage is a very important milestone in a person’s life. That’s why counseling before marriage is so important to guarantee a long and happily married life. Planning your wedding is fun and glamorous. But while you’re planning your wedding down to the last detail, are you also preparing for your marriage?

Preparing for your marriage can have a large impact on whether your marriage will end in divorce or not. Premarital education is known for being able to better prepare you as you go into your married life. The state of Colorado has declared that no couple shall have a wedding until they’ve gone through a complete premarital counseling.

If you’re traditional and prefer to have an indoor wedding at a religious institution like church or a synagogue, then chances are, premarital counseling is mandatory. If you’re on the fence about whether to take the plunge, premarital counseling can sort that out for you. It’s better that you get cold feet now than at the day of your wedding.

So you might be asking yourself how a counselor could possibly help you in building a foundation for the rest of your life.

What Are The Advantages Of Marriage Counseling?

1.      Marriage counseling can help you create positive resolutions for your marriage.

You can easily get emotional when you’re talking about things more on the heavy-duty side of life like kids, money, and sex. An experienced therapist can give you and your fiancé the guidance to not go off the topic and discuss the matter at hand like adults.

2.      Marriage counseling can help you improve your conflict resolution skills.

You probably know how your partner reacts during an argument by now. If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll know that there’s always room for improvement. And premarital therapy sessions can help you accomplish that. A counselor can teach you how to communicate more efficiently by listening and hearing what the other person has to say. They’ll also guide you on the things that you should and shouldn’t say to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

3.      Marriage counseling helps you to have realistic expectations when it comes to timing.

You probably have a time frame in mind of when you want to start having kids or buy a house. Is your partner also in one this time frame? Counseling helps you to put all your thoughts on the table so that there are no surprises going in.

4.      Marriage counseling helps you to avoid toxic resentments.

We all hold grudges. It’s the way of life. Your counselor will help you to let go of some of those grudges that you’ve been holding on to so that they won’t come back to cause problems down the line.

5.      Marriage counseling helps you get rid of the fear of the whole system of marriage.

Chances are that one of you is from a household where there was a lot of fighting, violence, or even only a single parent resent. Counseling can help you to broaden your view on the whole system of marriage and break the cycle of your past.

There are many benefits to premarital counseling. Contact us today!

Collaborative Therapeutic Services (CTS) seeks to maximize clients’ options by offering a variety of services, hours, locations and service providers with diverse specializations. We offer evening & weekend appointments. Have questions? Contact Us Here or Call 813-951-7346. Locations in Tampa & Brandon, FL.

Therapy for Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Clients

Transgender Therapy

It must be pretty scary to walk around in the world and feel eyes on you wherever you go. It’s like you just can’t stop or hide from the cold stare of society and its confines. Being a transgender individual is hard in today’s world. Especially while you’re going through changes that make you look and sound different. It must be frustrating feeling this way. Walking through life, looking and feeling like a stranger. Not quite fitting in.

Yes, people are more accommodating and educated in today’s world but that’s only a small group. A larger group of people are still uneducated, judgmental, ignorant, prejudiced, and non-tolerant to transgender individuals or people who are nonconforming. All the judgment and hate from outside parties has created a mental health crisis in our society and the world. The crisis has gotten so out of hand that many transgender individuals end up trying to take their own lives.

Out of 6000 transgender individuals:

• 41% tried to take their own lives.
• 60% were refused treatment and denied health care by their physicians.
• 57% got rejected by their loved ones and lost all contact with them.
• 69% were homeless at some point.
• 60 – 70% have gone through sexual harassment at the hands of law enforcement officers – the people who are supposed to make us feel safe in this world.
• 65% has experienced cases of sexual harassment in the workplace.
• 78% has experienced cases of sexual harassment at school.

Transgender and nonconforming individuals are living in fear every day because of all the homophobia and transphobia that’s being targeted at them. People are afraid of what they don’t understand and most people don’t understand what transgender individuals are going through.

So What Can Be Done?

Transgender therapy comes with a variety of advantages for transgender as well as nonconforming people. It helps transgender individuals to come to terms with the changes that are happening in their own bodies. It helps them to rediscover themselves as a person whom they can be proud of when they look in the mirror. Experienced counselors also help families come to grips with their daughter or son identifying as a transgender individual.

Counseling can help transgender individuals feel more free in their own skin. The therapy given by specialist counselors helps them to accept who they are as people and not be bothered about what the world has to say about them. Therapists can help transgender people come to terms with the changes that are happening in their body without the fear of being judged by others – outsiders who so not understand what they’re going through. There will be safe environment where transgender individuals can talk about all their fears and hopes for the future. Therapy is an integral part of understanding and coming to grips with all the changes that your body is going through.

Collaborative Therapeutic Services (CTS) seeks to maximize clients’ options by offering a variety of services, hours, locations and service providers with diverse specializations. We offer evening & weekend appointments. Have questions? Contact Us Here or Call 813-951-7346. Locations in Tampa & Brandon.

Relationship Counseling

Couples | Marriage | Family Counseling

Growing old together irrespective of the problems that arise has not been a constant in the marital world. The irreconcilable differences adage has been doing the rounds and how, across the board. The cute gestures during courtship suddenly become a bane rather than a boon in the relationship.

Unbiased Help

Interference from family (both sides) can also cause a dent in relationships. That is why premarital counseling is the need of the hour. It gives both sides a way to iron the glitches, if any, before tying the knot. As a preventive against divorce, counseling works rather well, provided neither party dons blinkers, but says it like it is, during the session. It is not always easy speaking about cracks in a relationship with a stranger. However, there comes a time when you just have to do so, if you want to heal, together.

Mend Fences

Couples who find cracks in the relationship may find meeting a therapist an unnecessary choice. The first session provides the counselor with a vast range of information pertaining to the history and the troubles that the couple faces. Techniques and modalities used may vary from person to person. What really works is honesty and being open to discussions in a controlled environment. The counselor needs to avoid any personal bias when counseling. Usually, for couples counseling, it is necessary for both to attend the initial sessions. It is also fine if they see the counselor individually but to sort out issues it is always necessary to meet the professional together.

Collective and Individual Sessions

During various sessions, the counselor may request couples with a series of tasks to work on in the relationship. The objective is to hear both sides of the story that has caused the relationship to go out of control. Rational emotive therapy denotes that man is fallible. Using this as a guide, certified counselors ensure that they bring their A game to the table. The objective is for both people to see the other’s point of view. Meeting a counselor may open each other’s eyes to understand where the partner is coming from and try to work on the relationship. If neither is willing to bend and stick with the ego, nothing will come from the session.

Calling it Quits

Mending relationships is not always on the cards in relationship counseling. In fact, when the wounds are open and raw, it can become apparent that both would like to end the relationship. It can cause a series of ripple effects, but the bottom line is that if there were cracks that could not be mended, it may be time to call it quits. At the end of the day, it is about being true to yourself because if you cannot give the relationship a 100 percent, there is no point in trying. It is pretty much like a cracked pot - no matter how many stones are used to mend, it will break.  Meet with a counselor to mend the wounds and get past the hurt, as you individually heal.

Collaborative Therapeutic Services (CTS) seeks to maximize clients’ options by offering a variety of services, hours, locations and service providers with diverse specializations. We offer evening & weekend appointments. Have questions? Contact Us Here or Call 813-951-7346. Locations in Tampa & Brandon.