When I first started couples counseling with Bruce and Lauren, their 14-year-old daughter asked her mother, “Do you still love dad?” This was not an easy question to answer. Like most couples in marriage counseling, they still loved each other but were no longer in love. 

Lauren had put the kids ahead of their relationship, and Bruce’s drinking with work buddies after work didn’t help. They didn’t manage conflict well and had lost their connection with each other. Bruce’s affair was the impetus for starting couples therapy, but they eventually addressed their marital issues.

At this point in couples counseling, we were meeting every two to three months. In our last meeting, Lauren shared that their daughter said to her, “I hope when I grow up, my relationship is like your’s and dad’s.” What a wonderful confirmation of how far they’d come.