Should we do Couples Counseling or Individual Counseling?

If you have finally been brave enough to admit some things in your relationship need work, should you do individual our couples counseling? Below are some things to consider as you make your decision.

The first step is to understand the difference between individual and couples. In couples counseling, your relationship, rather than the two of you, is the client. Together with your therapist, you’ll focus on understanding what’s going wrong and implementing tools to fix it. You will not get much time to focus on individual issues. If you want your partner to be “fixed” or know they are struggling with something difficult like a history of trauma, or harmful behaviors, couples counseling won’t necessarily provide the space to address those issues. Individual counseling is the place where time and energy can be spent on understanding and treating those problems. Below is a comparison of three common issues couples bring into counseling, and how they might be approached in couples counseling and in individual therapy.

	If your partner cheated on you	If your partner wants more/less sex than you	If your partner disagrees with you about having children
Couples	Rebuilding trust	Creating compromise	Coming to agreement, creating a new understanding of the purpose of the relationship
Individual	Understanding why they cheated, and how to avoid cheating in the future	Understanding why their sex drive might be high/low, and what kind of sex they want to have	Processing the personal impact of the decision to have/not have children.

Ask yourself – are you ready for couples counseling?

To get the most out of couples counseling, it helps to have a general baseline of emotional health. Sometimes it’s not always possible – it’s common for couples to have put off counseling until they are really in crisis. But if any of the following are true for you or your partner, it may present a barrier to couples work.

●Current substance abuse of any kind

●Out of control behaviors including physical violence

●Frequent and persistent panic attacks, PTSD symptoms, hallucinations or other symptoms that are triggered by conflict with your partner, or present to the degree that conversation would be difficult.

If you or your partner are experiencing any of the above, you may want to consider doing individual therapy first, or in addition to couples counseling.

What if my partner refuses to do any therapy?

If your partner refuses to do couples counseling, get yourself to therapy so you can have a space to process. Working with a therapist, even without your partner can give you the space and tools to truly look at the relationship and figure out what’s you, and what is outside of your control. Your partner may even come around to the idea once they see the benefits you’re experiencing.

Whether you choose to start with couples counseling or individual therapy, schedule an appointment with a therapy group such as the Center for Growth / Therapy in Philadelphia. Seeing a therapist that is part of a therapy group makes it easier to add or switch services, as your therapist can refer you and work closely with an additional couples or individual therapist.

You can self schedule an in-person or virtual therapy session at the Center for Growth by calling (215) 922- LOVE (5683) x 100.

Our Guarantee: If after your first session you are not sold that you are working with the right therapist, do not hesitate to call our intake line at 215 922 5683 x 100 or Alex at (267) 324-9564 and ask to be rescheduled with another therapist. The choice of how you want to proceed is yours. Our only goal is to support you in becoming the best you possible.

For your convenience, we have brick and mortar offices and work with clients virtually in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.

Physical Therapy Office Locations:

Ocean City Therapy Office 360 West Ave, Floor 1, Ocean City, NJ 08226
Mechanicsville Therapy Office 9044 Mann Drive, Mechanicsville Virginia, 23116
Society Hill Therapy Office 233 S. 6th Street, C-33, Philadelphia PA 19106
Art Museum / Fairmount Therapy Office 2401 Pennsylvania Ave, Suite 1a2, Philadelphia PA 19130
Providence Therapy Office 173 Waterman St. Providence, RI 02906
Fayetteville Therapy Office 101 Devant Street #606, Fayetteville GA 30214
Santa Fe Therapy Office, 2204 B Brothers Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87505
Telemedicine Therapy Locations: We have therapists who are licensed to work in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia and Pennsylvania

Therapy Services Offered in Fayetteville, Ocean City, Mechanicsville, Philadelphia, Providence, Santa Fe:

Individual Counseling and therapy
Couples Counseling and marriage counseling
Teen Therapy and Adolescent Therapy and tweens and child counseling
Family Therapy and multi-generational counseling
Art Therapy and Counseling no art skills needed
ADHD Therapy and ADD, Dyslexia, Autism, Tourettes counseling
Anxiety, Panic, OCD Therapy and worry and fear support
Breaking the cycle of Codependency and being your own person
Overcoming Chronic Illness and Chronic Pain .
Depression Therapy and sadness, gloom, and upset support
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) Therapy is a particular style of therapy designed for people with problems affecting their nervous system, how the brain and body send and receive signals.
Grief Therapy and loss, End of A Relationship, rejections, pregnancy and loss and therapy
Mindfulness Based Therapy and spirituality based therapy
Narcissistic Abuse Recovery child of, parent of, spouse of, sibling of a narcissist.
Sex Therapy and sexual function & dysfunction, sex addiction, sexual orientation and gender identity support
Shame and Blame
Trauma Therapy both emotional and sexual abuse, complex trauma, PTSD counseling
Divorce support
Affairs, Infidelity, Unfaithful, Cheating counseling
Parenting therapy
Personality disorder treatments Narcissist, Borderline, Histrionic
Anger Management Therapy
Setting Boundaries and identifying ones own Core Beliefs
Just name some of the Mental Health issues that we work with. Our goal is to help you Change and Achieve Your Dreams

Should we do Couples Counseling or Individual Counseling?

Posts by Alex Caroline Robboy

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