Tag Archives: Marriage Counseling NYC

Parenting Issues

 

Parenting Issues

Couples that have children are often faced with some stressful and challenging parenting issues. When it comes to parenting issues many couples disagree on the choices they wish to make for their children. When disagreements occur, often conflict and tension within the relationship is the result. Serious issues that test a a marriage include a chronically ill child, a child with learning disabilities, a mentally retarded child, a child with autism, or child’s death. These issues are often devastating to a family and can put stress on a marriage.

Special Education Children:

Maintaining a Healthy Marriage While Raising a Special Education Child

Parents raising a child living with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum disorders, or learning disabilities ( such as ADHD) are confronted with huge challenges regarding the care of their child. These Challenges range from providing the correct medical care to finding the right schools and the right opportunities.

Parents with children living with a disorder find that their entire family is extremely isolated. They begin to be left out of neighborhood functions and as a result lose the powerful connections they once had with friends. The stress of having a multiple handicapped child creates tension within the family and the marital relationship.

Parents may find themselves becoming depressed or grieving for the dreams they once had for their child. When a parent has a special education child he or she may throw him or herself entirely into the lives of their child. The child often becomes the center of his or her world. Another parent may become a workaholic in order to cope. Without balance between family, work and self  parents may find themselves becoming increasingly stressed, anxious, angry or depressed. These feelings have a negative effect on the family and marriage. For couples who find that their marriage is suffering due to the stress of having a child with special needs marriage therapy and family therapy can be helpful. It allows each member of the couple to voice each of his or her concerns and achieve greater balance within their lives.

The Chronically Ill Child:

Parents raising a chronically ill child face overwhelming challenges that often result in martial distress. Parents of an ill child are completely responsible for his or her medical care and thus often devote all of their time to taking care of the child. Often such stress places their relationship with their spouse as their last priority. Couples with a chronically ill child often complain that their partner is emotionally distant, that they are unable to communicate, and intimacy is lost. Many couples focus all of their emotion, energy and time on taking care of their child learning very little time. For maintaining their relationship with their spouse. Family therapy or marriage counseling can help build trust, intimacy and secure attachment in the martial relationship.

The Loss of a Child:

The loss of a child is the most devastating experience a parent can face-and missing the child never goes away. A piece of yourself is lost and, our future is forever changed. The age of the child at the time of death does not lessen the hurt or devastation. It feels completely unnatural for a child to die before his or her parents. When a child passes away the parents are forced to live on. One might think that the loss of a child would bring parents together but more often it causes isolation and distance. Sometimes the distance  increases to such an extent that one or both partners emotionally and sometimes physically seek comfort outside of the relationship. By seeking marriage counseling in a timely fashion couples can deal with the  unfortunate consequences of the death of a child in a healthier, less painful manner.

 

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Domestic Abuse

 

Domestic Violence

The American Association of Marriage and Family therapy declares that over 20% of American families experience some sort of violence within their household. Domestic violence is more common in younger couples than in older ones. Physical abuse can be classifies as pushing, shoving, hitting, slapping or otherwise assaulting one another. Sadly, domestic violence is becoming increasingly common. Many couples also experience emotional abuse within their relationships. Examples of emotional abuse within relationships include controlling behaviors, verbal threats, or insulting remarks. Even with the most insignificant abusive incident, couples should always seek counseling. Many couples believe pushing or shoving is not abusive and they believe it will end as soon as a particular stressor is removed from their lives. However, life is never without stress and thus many of these violent acts do not cease but rather intensify and grow more dangerous.

In relationships where one partner exhibits controlling behavior the relationship is considered abusive. A controlling husband for example may verbally threaten his wife into social isolation. Forcing her to stay home and break any friendships she has outside of the marriage. A controlling spouse may financially abuse his r her partner by giving them an allowance and denying them money. Thus, they become completely dependent on the abusive spouse.

We can help you if you believe you are in an abusive relationship. For couples interested in taking steps towards ending the violence in their household and continuing their relationship, marriage therapy can be the answer. Marriage counselors, marriage therapists, family counselors, and family therapists come up with strategies and give couples the tools they need to take violence out of their lives completely.

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How Marriage Therapy Helps

 

How Marriage Therapy Helps

Marriage Therapy is conducted by a licensed psychologist, social worker, psychiatrist, or counselor, The focus of marriage therapy is not on the couple’s relationship. It marriage counseling each partner has the opportunity to express his or her feelings in an accepting and non judgmental environment.

Creating a Safe Atmosphere in Marriage Therapy:

In marriage and couples counseling the therapist can help guide you and your partner along the path toward building a safe and responsive connection.It aims to help you identify repetitive negative behavioral patterns, and the feelings that underlie them. The therapist provides a safe atmosphere which enables each partner express those feelings and which facilitates listening and acceptance between partners. The therapist’s role is to help the couple learn how they have become stuck and unable to make the right connection to enable the couple to progress together, and how they can build on their own resources to reconnect. The therapist is also trained to help couples with special issues including anxiety, aggression, substance abuse, infidelity, depression, sexual issues and parenting concerns.

Relationship therapy requires that each person examine his or her own behavior and realize how it positively and negatively affects the relationship. In relationship counseling the focus of the counseling is on the relationship; the relationship is the patient.  To achieve this goal, it is often helpful to meet with each partner individually.Just as individual dance instruction might be necessary in order to help a couple dance more effectively together.

In marriage or relationship counseling a lot of attention is paid to how each party responds to the various issues they are facing. There is no right or wrong way to respond; there are just different ways of responding. Some of them, however, are more effective than others. Some work for the relationship and some do not. These are all issues to examine during the counseling sessions.

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Marriage and Relationships

Marriage and Relationships

If you are having problems within your relationship, coming together for relationship or marriage counseling can often lead to improved understanding and communication with one another. Through counseling you can learn to listen to the needs and desires of your spouse. Marriage Counseling teaches couples the tools needed to achieve honest, respectful, two-way communication that will prevent future arguments. Couples will learn to replace resentment with respect and to replace arguments with caring conversations. The goal of marriage counseling is to help each individual gain a better understanding of the needs of their partner which will increase marital satisfaction.

Through marriage and couples counseling each partner will improve his or her listening skills. This will enable the couple to more effectively hear and understand the needs of their partner, which will enable the relationship to grow and flourish. Marriage and couples counseling focuses on clearing up past issues so the couple can concentrate on improving their present  and future situation.

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About Us

About Us

Bergen Marriage counseling is a private mental health and chemical dependency practice which has been serving the metropolitan New York area, including Manhattan and Bergen County, New Jersey, for over 25 years. Our Health care professionals include licensed psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, clinical social workers, and counselors with expertise in marriage, family, adults, teens, children, hypnosis and substance abuse. We are dedicated to providing quality, goal oriented care tailored to your individual needs by matching the treatment to the patient, not the patient to the treatment. Bergen Marriage Counseling provides warm, highly qualified psychotherapists will ensure that you receive individuated care in a comfortable, confidential setting. We aim to foster healthy, satisfying relationships, communication, self-esteem, and problem-solving skills that will enhance an individual’s quality of life.

Bergen Marriage Counseling has private offices located in Manhattan, NY, Paramus, NJ and Englewood, NJ. We provide our patients with convenient daytime, evening, and weekend hours.

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