Marriage Counseling and Family Therapy in
Sherman Oaks

In Sherman Oaks and anywhere else in the world, there is no such thing as the perfect relationship. Because we are all working through our own personal issues all the time, when we come together with another person many of our personal issues become magnified. We also discover that we lack the skills of communication when it comes to finding incompatibilities. Indeed, there is someone who knows what you need to solve all the above mentioned issues, a specialist on marriage and family counseling in Sherman Oaks – Alice Dollinger.

It is no unordinary thing for couples run into issues in their relationships, but when these problems reach a certain point, getting professional help from a marriage counselor can be extremely beneficial to bring in a new voice that offers an objective point of view, so both sides can take a look at the problem without their emotions attached. Getting help from a marriage counselor to preserve your relationship is an important first step to making an effort to keep your marriage intact and shows initiative as well as your concern and desire to keep it going. To keep a healthy relationship, you need to put in the hard work to learn skills to solidify your bond through strong communication.

While we understand that a fairy tale happy ending does not reflect reality, we need to accept that staying in a healthy relationship takes a good amount of work. When your relationship stagnates and you are becoming more distant, it may be time for you to consider counseling as an option for salvaging your relationship. A major sign of a failing relationship is when communication becomes poor and you are not talking much, or when you do talk, it is negative. Communication doesn’t always have to be verbal, so the way you say things, or your tone, is also important in conveying emotions. If you or your partner becomes afraid to communicate, it might be time for you to consider therapy or counseling to keep your marriage afloat.

Counseling may be a suitable option for those who are struggling to keep their relationships healthy if affection is being withheld as a form of punishment or if a partner is seen as an antagonistic force. There are signs of serious issues when a partner does not show affection or gives the silent treatment to their spouse, as it indicates a lack of balance. In a relationship, you and your partner should be on the same team, so if it feels like you are competing against one another, there is likely something that isn’t right. A major issue between couples that call for couples counseling is when secrets are being kept from one another. While everybody has a right to privacy, there should be no secrets between you and your partner.

If either you or your partner is thinking about or having an affair, it is a sign that there is another desire that is different from what you currently have. A relationship can survive an affair, but it will take a lot of work to get past it. Financial infidelity in a relationship can be detrimental as the topic of family finances should be open between the two partners; if one controls the fiances and constantly keeps the other in the dark, counseling for married couples is a viable option to work out the issue. If you or your partner feels as though everything would be fine if the other would change, you need to realize that the only person you can change is yourself, but with counseling, you can learn to better relate to one another.

Sometimes couples fall apart and live separate lives and find themselves feeling more like roommates than partners. If there is a lack of intimacy, conversation, or communication, it might be time to try counseling to see what you can do to find what is missing. While changes in sex life are not uncommon after being with your partner for some time, extreme changes signal that something is not right. A decrease or an increase in sex may be signs of challenges in the relationship. If you find that you and your partner are arguing over the same things all the time, but cannot seem to find out why you are always having these arguments, seeing a professional therapist can possibly help you to discover the root of the problem and find steps to salvage your marriage.

Counseling can be beneficial to saving your marriage when you and your partner do not know how to resolve your differences. Once you recognize what the problem is, you just need to figure out how to fix it, but sometimes it can be difficult finding a solution. Getting help from a third party can help to bring in a fresh perspective that can help them to find a way. When a partner in a relationship starts acting out on negative feelings, they can transform into harmful behaviors and attitudes; seeing a marriage counselor can help to understand these feelings and to find better ways to express them. When couples fight and separate, the time spent away could be reinforced in their thoughts as being helpful, which will lead to more time away; this may indicate a need for counseling, as it does not help in solving issues in the relationship. There are many issues that can cause a marriage to crumble, but with counseling and commitment from both partners, relationships can be salvaged.

Seeing a licensed marriage counselor and family therapist can start making sense of what can feel like insanity. It doesn’t feel good to have fallen in love with someone that you now question if you really know them at all. It feels terrible to be arguing constantly with the one person you care about above all others. Talking as a couple or individually with a marriage and family therapist can teach you the tools to deal with the myriad of things that come up throughout a relationship. If this sounds like your relationship and you are in need of a marriage and family therapy in Sherman Oaks, call Alice Dollinger licensed therapist at 818-990-3334.