I met Christina and Brad for their first session and gathered information about their relationship. In our second meeting, we were planning to work on the issues they initially presented, but Brad came by himself. He said that Christina was having anxiety about coming to the session, fearing it would make the relationship worse.

Successful couples counseling routinely improves the relationship. It allows couples to talk about issues they’re unlikely to do successfully at home. An effective couples counselor will prevent the couple from escalating, so they are learning new skills. Couples counseling is to practice talking about difficult topics, but not fight in the sessions.