Why You Should Begin Couples Counselling in 2024

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Setting Relationship Goals for 2024

For most of us, the beginning of a new year is a perfect time to break free from old patterns that don't serve us anymore, set new goals, and make positive changes to our lifestyle, career, or relationships. Our connections with people we care about are among the most significant factors in satisfaction and happiness in our lives. If you feel that your relationship or marriage is not where you would like it to be, emotionally focused couples therapy (also known as EFCT) might be of great help. Because it focuses on emotions and attachment patterns, emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) may help transform things from the bottom up. So, working with an emotionally focused couples therapist can improve your emotional and intimate connection with your partner, help address underlying problems, and strengthen your bonds.

How Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) Can Lead to a Happier, Healthier Relationship in 2024

Are you struggling with a deeply unsettling feeling when you think about your relationship while reflecting on what you have accomplished and the difficulties you have faced throughout the past year? Do you feel emotionally unsafe in your relationship, grapple with overcoming infidelity, or don't know how to rekindle emotional closeness and intimacy with your partner? Maybe you feel like a failure, sensing there’s something fundamentally wrong with you and assuming responsibility and guilt for everything that goes wrong in your relationship. Or you seek support in processing past trauma or in breaking free from toxic patterns passed down from your family of origin.

Benefits of Couples Counselling

Relationship challenges and unresolved past issues might make it hard to be vulnerable and form deep, trusting bonds with your spouse. So, here are three solid reasons why you should begin couples counselling in 2024.

Your relationship experiences communication breakdowns. Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) can help improve communication.

Emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) helps improve communication for couples stuck in unhealthy relationship cycles. Your emotional cycle, or your habits of connection and detachment, tends to repeat itself whenever you feel emotionally disconnected and uncomfortable in your relationship. Your deepest wants, anxieties, previous scars, and reactions to each other's behaviour drive the emotional cycle, creating frequent misunderstandings, unresolved conflicts that pile up, and profound feelings of disconnection.

Your emotionally focused couples (EFCT) counsellor will help you learn how to break harmful patterns of interaction and have more honest and constructive conversations. You will better understand your and your partner's emotional responses to stress as a result of the therapeutic process, and you will be able to explain your needs more effectively. This might lead to a better knowledge of one another, increased empathy, and a stronger emotional connection.

You struggle with recurring conflicts. Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) helps you get to the bottom of your problems.

Do you face relationship problems that seem to resurface repeatedly, keeping you trapped in a cycle of arguments, frustration, resentment, and detachment? Your emotionally focused couples (EFCT) therapist will encourage you to work on identifying the underlying emotions and attachment needs that fuel the conflicts with your partner.

For example, you may frequently argue about household chores, with you feeling overwhelmed and your partner feeling criticized. Your emotionally focused couples (EFCT) therapist will encourage you to delve deeper and unpack the underlying emotions. While exploring your deeper feelings associated with these conflicts, you may learn that your feelings of being overburdened or taken for granted stem from the fear of not being valued and cared for. On the other hand, your spouse may feel inadequate for being criticized all the time, which can stem from a deep-seated fear of not being good enough. By focusing on these deeper issues and attachment needs, you can better understand the moves in your relationship dance and address the root causes of your negative interactions.

You feel emotionally distanced and disconnected. Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) can help you feel safe and connected again.

Do you have trouble getting over infidelity and trusting each other again? Do unresolved concerns, such as your partner's affair or ongoing conflicts, cause you to feel emotionally distant and distanced from one another to the point that you can't remember why you married in the first place? Your busy schedules, everyday stress, or the struggle to adjust to major life transitions may exacerbate emotional disconnection, resulting in problems with intimacy, resentment, and a profound feeling of loneliness in your marriage.

Emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) can help you by encouraging you to become emotionally available and responsive again, which are essential parts of feeling safe and happy in a relationship. Through a series of emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) sessions, you can learn to trust and feel safe with one another again by communicating openly and expressing and responding to each other’s deeper feelings.

Preparing for Couples Counselling in 2024

If you are considering starting couples counselling in the new year start with an open conversation with your partner about the decision to seek couples counselling. There are many myths about couples counselling. If you are bringing it forward, your partner may be shocked and scared you may want to end the relationship. Reassure your partner the decision to seek couples counselling isn’t about blaming or attacking each other, there is no good guy or bad guy, but to strengthen your relationship. Openly discuss your fears, expectations and what you hope to achieve from couples counselling.

Finding a couples counsellor who is the right fit for you is an important part of the process. Not all couples counsellors are the same. There are several ways to research and find a couples counsellor. You can begin by exploring online directories such as Psychology Today or ask your friends, family or healthcare professionals for suggestions. To find an emotionally focused couples (EFCT) counsellor you can look at their website the International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT) for a couples counsellor near you. If you can’t find anyone near you, consider online therapy as a convenient and valuable option.

Together, consider scheduling phone consultations with couples counsellors, to ask questions and ensure the right fit for each of you. Don’t be afraid to ask about their licensure, experience, type of couples counselling training and supervision the couples counsellor has received to ensure it meets your goals. Once you choose the right therapist, consider booking consistent sessions to get the most out of your investment.

The Credibility of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT)

Emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) is the gold standard for couples counselling, a credible and respected approach in the therapeutic community. As you look for a couples counsellor we encourage you to consider an emotionally focused couples therapist (EFCT) as a valuable resource for relationship improvement.

The research by Dr. Sue Johnson, the founder of emotionally focused therapy (EFT), and her colleagues has consistently shown that emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) is associated with significant improvements in relationship satisfaction, communication, and overall relationship functioning. Emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) is empirically supported and peer-reviewed research supports its effectiveness for couples counselling by showing substantial improvements in relationship distress and overall functioning compared to control groups. There is an accumulating body of evidence over the past 30 years that underscores the credibility of emotionally focused couples therapy (EFCT) as an evidence-based approach, contributing to its widespread recognition and adoption in the field of couples counselling.

Investing in Your Relationship

Investing in the health of your relationship is a worthy goal for 2024. Just like we prioritize our physical health, and personal or career ambitions, choosing to focus on our emotional and mental health and strengthening our relationships contributes to our overall health and well-being. A secure connection with your partner is not only linked with greater emotional and mental health but also with an increased life expectancy. Nurturing the bond with your partner of understanding, support, communication and connection, provides you both with a partnership where you can individually grow and flourish. Exploring couples counselling, is not just a resolution; it's a commitment to building a secure partnership that withstands the test of time. In the grand scheme of life, the health of our relationships holds immeasurable value, making couples counselling a venture well worth our time, energy, and dedication in the coming year and beyond.

Starting Couples Counselling in 2024 with Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) can lead you to a healthier, more secure relationship. Take the first step towards a happier and more fulfilling relationship by considering couples counselling as a meaningful New Year's resolution for 2024.

How Williamson & Associates Counselling in Alberta Offering Couples Counselling in Alberta Can Help You Have a Happier, Healthier Relationship in 2024

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy in Olds, Alberta and virtually across Alberta can help you feel connected in your marriage and relationship!

All of our couples counsellors are trained in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. Reach out today to book your free phone consultation here!

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Williamson & Associates

Williamson & Associates Individual, Couple & Family Counselling in Olds, Alberta, offering support and whole family care with mental health, trauma and relationship challenges.

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New Year, New You: How Therapy Can Lead to a Happier, Healthier You

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Rekindling Intimacy: A Couple's Guide to Sexual Healing and Connection