As a licensed marriage counselor in Raleigh, NC, I work with couples in the states of Virginia and North Carolina who feel like roommates and who cannot communicate because they are constantly frustrated and feel misunderstood by each other.

I also like working with individual clients who are going through life transitions. You may be a good candidate for individual therapy if you are dealing with anxiety, relationship issues, or seeking to improve your mental health and become a better version of yourself.

However, even today, when mental health is getting much more attention than in the past, there are numerous myths surrounding psychotherapy. Before you begin marriage counseling Raleigh NC, it is good to debunk these myths and learn about the specific therapy modality you intend to sign up for.

I would like to demystify what happens inside couples counseling sessions and individual counseling sessions. Hence, you are more informed about the process and can make better decisions for yourself, your relationship, and your family.

What Happens During the Last Marriage Counseling Session in Raleigh, NC?

Although this may seem like a far-off and dim goal, people do graduate from couples therapy. People do get better and experience this new way of being in their everyday lives without weekly guidance.

Marriage Counseling is Not Meant to Last Forever

No professional couples counselor wants their clients to be in psychotherapy forever. So, my goal is not to have you in marriage counseling Raliegh NC indefinitely.

On the contrary, I want my clients to experience a sense of relief and confidence, knowing that they are actually able to manage their relationship challenges outside of marriage counseling sessions successfully.

Marriage Counseling Session Raleigh, NC is a Long but Rewarding Process

Marriage counseling Raleigh NC takes time, around a year on average. Still, it might take longer or shorter, depending on the nature and severity of your relationship challenges.

However, when it comes to what to expect during your last therapy session, we will review and sum up everything we did together in therapy.

We are going to talk about our work together – what we have done and what goals we have accomplished together. In addition, we will go over your relationship cycle and understand how you become locked in this unproductive pattern.

You will be able to really understand when your partner gets distressed – that is, when they respond by becoming "big," angry, or shutting down – you will genuinely grasp that something is happening for them.

So, you won't feel as threatened as you used to. You won't be as reactive as you used to be because you'll be able to see underneath their reactions and connect with the suffering that your partner is feeling.

Such comprehension will assist you in decoding what is going on for your spouse and responding with empathy and understanding instead of aggression, withdrawal, and hurt.

You will also understand that intimacy stands for "into me," which means that you have to do your inner work to really heal and understand yourself. Only when you heal your inner child can you communicate your needs and wants to your partner.

So, it is simultaneous individual work and couples work, as most people need both in order to integrate all the skills and knowledge fully, let go of limiting inherited belief systems and learn the new way of being and communicating.

We will also discuss what it means to emotionally reach out to your partner and how to move forward. With this new understanding of relationships, we may even brainstorm some of the future scenarios you are concerned about.

Summary

The last marriage therapy session will be similar to the other sessions. Still, it will also be different in that we will spend a lot of time rethinking and analyzing what we've done and come up with a plan for moving forward in your relationship.

Even though I close my clients' files with this last marriage counseling session, I make it clear to them that they are always free to reopen them if they feel the need to do so.

I hope this was helpful. If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment in my Wake Forest or virtual office, do not hesitate to book your free 15 min phone consultation online by clicking here.