Marriage Counseling

Christian marriage counseling is a type of psychotherapy designed to help couples resolve conflicts and improve their relationship. Christian counseling for marriages is provided by a licensed professional Christian therapist who is trained in understanding the various relationship dynamics couples face. Christian counselors incorporate faith-based values and sound Biblical knowledge to help couples find guidance, peace, and support. Through counseling, you and your spouse can talk with your counselor about where you are in your marriage, where you would like to be, and work with you to get there. Your counselor will offer an unbiased perspective, along with tools for overcoming negative patterns, so you and your spouse can make a careful decision to rebuild your marriage.

Right now, your situation might feel hopeless. Do not give up just yet. At Tacoma Christian Counseling, we offer hope for couples in crisis. You are not the first or the last to seek help for your marriage. Our Christian marriage counselors have helped couples with deeply-rooted issues restore trust, communication, intimacy, and faith.

The way in which you and your spouse interact with one another is caused by many things, such as behaviors you learn from your parents’ relationships, for example. Sometimes understanding your behaviors, along with the task of fixing your marriage, seems so difficult and impossible that divorce feels like the only choice. Maintaining a healthy marriage and fixing problems as they arise requires certain skills, and often times people need help in learning these skills in order to build and nurture healthy relationships that last. If you’re afraid that your marriage is failing or if you and your spouse are struggling with difficult issues within your marriage, then consider Christian counseling for marriages. Counseling can help you free your marriage from the bonds of the past so you can rebuild a new, healthy, Christ-filled marriage.

Christian marriage counseling can help you:

• Learn how to resolve conflict in a healthy manner.
• Communicate more effectively.
• State your needs openly without fear or anger.
• Process and work through tough issues.
• Develop a better understanding and appreciation for your spouse.
• Set goals for your future together.
• Restore intimacy and trust.
• Learn to connect spiritually and live out your faith together.

These are just some of the things you can gain from Christian marriage counseling. When you meet with your counselor, you and your spouse can explore the strengths and weaknesses in your marriage and set your own personal goals. Each marriage is unique and requires individualized attention. At Tacoma Christian Counseling, we are here to help you uncover your needs, voice them in a safe atmosphere, and work towards finding long-term solutions.

People come to marriage counseling for many reasons. Our counselors are experienced in handling a variety of marital and premarital issues. Common issues couples can seek Christian marriage counseling for include:

Communication, Conflict, and Intimacy

Statistically, the most frequent problems within marriages are poor communication and intimacy issues. Couples who seek counseling often complain that their spouse doesn’t understand them or they constantly misinterpret what they’re trying to communicate. When communication breaks down, this causes misunderstandings, frustration, and conflict. Conflict then makes it more difficult to communicate effectively, because it fuels intense emotional responses. When you’re feeling angry, hurt, or overwhelmed, it’s hard to listen to your spouse and resolve disagreements. Couples who often argue without coming to a real resolution can quickly become emotionally detached, causing a lack of intimacy.

Christian marriage counseling can help you communicate better by learning to:

• Identify barriers to effective communication.
• Become an engaged listener.
• Improve how you transmit and read nonverbal communication signals.
• Manage stress and emotional responses.
• Improve assertiveness.

Christian marriage counseling can improve intimacy by teaching you to:

• Communicate more effectively.
• Explore each other’s emotional and physical wants and needs.
• Look for creative ways to show love and commitment to your spouse.
• Work to find common interests, beliefs, and desires.
• Engage effectively around difficult issues.

Affairs, Infidelity, Sexual Addiction, and Broken Promises

When you or your spouse have broken the promise of loyalty within your marriage with an affair, infidelity, or sexual addiction, it’s important to seek marriage counseling as soon as possible. Studies show that couples who enter counseling promptly after an affair are more likely to get positive results. It’s also important to face issues of sexual addiction as soon as possible, so you can rebuild respect and trust in your marriage. Our trained Christian counselors understand that broken promises in marriages affect both partners. If your spouse has committed any of these acts, you probably feel things like betrayal, anger, grief, and you might even blame yourself. On the other side, your spouse is feeling things like immense guilt, regret, shame, and desperation. In counseling, we will focus on healing your marriage by learning to recover from past mistakes, and addressing underlying issues that cause unhealthy behaviors.

Christian marriage counseling can help you restore your marriage after a betrayal by teaching you to:

• Recognize that the betrayed spouse is suffering from a form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and offer solutions to decrease the frequent flashbacks, and the need to continuously revisit the details of the betrayal.
• Better understand the root causes of the negative behaviors, and offer practical solutions.
• Let go of past hurts and rebuild trust, intimacy, and dedication within the marriage.

Faith and Spirituality as a Couple

Couples often attend Christian marriage counseling to help them grow and connect spiritually. Couples who share the same faith have the possibility of worshiping, praying, and studying together, and have the opportunity to lean on their faith in difficult times. Sharing beliefs also makes building a life easier, because you share similar values and desires. However, connecting spiritually isn’t as easy as people think it should be. This connection is one that requires risk and vulnerability with the possibility of great rewards of closeness and true intimacy. When faith isn’t shared, disagreements and pressure becomes an aspect of the relationship, often preventing healthy discussion and expression of each other’s beliefs.  Learning to appreciate and respect the beliefs of their spouse and how they uniquely express God’s image within themselves is fundamental for growing together in this arena. For some couples the challenge is engaging and respecting each other around totally different faiths. Issues like raising children in a particular faith can cause conflict for couples who share different beliefs, so it’s important to discuss these things in order to maintain peace and stability for your marriage and your family.

Our counselors can help couples of the same or different belief systems learn to:

• Appreciate the spiritual needs of your spouse.
• Learn to connect in your unique expressions of spirituality.
• Make decisions regarding faith and children.
• Use your faith to grow as a couple, even if there are differences in beliefs.

Money and Finances

Financial issues are stressful and can cause conflict within marriages. Often money issues in marriages can be handled with help from a financial advisor, but there are instances when financial troubles are a symptom of deeper issues. Things like gambling, hiding money from your spouse and spending money carelessly often result from underlying emotional problems. Marriage counseling can help you and your spouse discuss behaviors that are leading to financial strain and offer solutions to help you build financial and marital stability.

Christian marriage counseling can help with money and finances by helping you:

• Deal with financial infidelity by addressing the cause and working to build trust.
• Address behaviors that cause financial hardship such as gambling and shopping addictions.
• Learn to communicate better so you can budget and share financial responsibility.
• Set goals aimed toward building a more financially secure future.

Sexual Intimacy

It has been said that if you really want to know how a couple is doing, look in the bedroom.  It’s natural for couples to experience difficulty with sexual intimacy. In the beginning, you have to learn each other in order to understand what each of you need and expect sexually. After some time, complaints are normal to arise in a couple’s sexual relationship and start breaking things down. In later years, issues like menopause, and years of sexual conflict can totally shut down sexual intimacy. These instances are just a few of the many reasons couples seek marriage counseling to improve their sex lives. At Tacoma Christian Counseling we can match you with a Christian counselor who specializes in helping couples regain sexual intimacy.

Sexual problems Christian marriage counseling can help with include:

• Low sexual desire and frequency disagreements
• Expectations and health of the high desire partner
• Sexual performance issue and anxieties
• Sex addiction
• Conflict resolution

Parenting Challenges as a Couple

Differences in parenting styles are common source of conflict in marriages. Parenting is a delicate issue because both partners feel a huge responsibility toward their children. Parenting decisions and conflicts are often emotionally charged because of the high level of importance placed on the matter. You and your spouse have the best interest of your children at heart, but deciding how to approach parenting as a team can be challenging. Your parenting style is determined by a variety of factors including experiences related to your own upbringing and issues you might have about your own parents. Parenting issues and disagreements can have a huge impact on the health and quality of your marriage. Christian counseling for marriages can help you work through these issues, so you can build a healthy, Christian environment for your family.

In Christian marriage counseling you and your spouse can overcome parenting challenges by:

• Understanding your own parenting style and the things which influence your approach.
• Define the core values of each partner as it relates to child rearing.
• Identify areas of conflict and work towards compromise.
• Discuss various parenting responsibilities and how they can be shared fairly.
• Teaching you and your spouse how to better interact with your children to promote the behavior you want and end behaviors you don’t want.
• Helping you and your spouse maintain a healthy, intimate marriage after children.

Concerns Regarding Extended Family

When you marry, you are inheriting a new family, which can be a hard adjustment. Siblings and parents of your spouse are a huge part of their lives, so when these people pose a threat to the health and happiness of your marriage, it can become a very sensitive and difficult matter. Whatever issues you are facing, it is important to voice your concerns before they become too severe. Sometimes family members are simply too vocal about their opinions and intrude into matters which should be kept between you and your spouse. Sometimes extended family members can rely too heavily on your spouse or take advantage of them. Marriage counseling is helpful in dealing with these kinds of concerns because it offers an objective perspective from someone who isn’t emotionally involved.

Christian marriage counseling can help you address concerns about extended family by:

• Helping you communicate your frustrations with your spouse.
• Teaching you how to communicate your concerns to your family members in a constructive way.
• Offering advice on how to best interact with difficult family members.
• Creating a strategy for setting boundaries with extended family members.

It is Not the End

Whatever problems your marriage face, understand that it does not mean your marriage has to end. There is hope. Our compassionate and highly-skilled Christian marriage counselors can tackle even the toughest, most devastating marital issues. God has a plan for your life and your marriage. We are here to help you grow together in faith, so you can have the marriage God intends for you.

Christian marriage counseling is a tool to help couples like you find peace, happiness, and fulfillment within your marriage. At Tacoma Christian Counseling, we are here to answer any questions you have about marriage Christian counseling, so you can begin your journey toward healing as soon as possible.

Is it too late to save my marriage?

Couples often enter marriage counseling with the fear that it’s too late to heal the damage within their marriage. While in some cases, couples decide that it’s best to go separate ways, most couples find marriage counseling very beneficial. Christian counseling can help you and your spouse draw hope and guidance through God’s word, so you can build the marriage God intends for you – one that is deeply rooted in Christ.

Do I have to be a Christian to meet with your counselors?

No. Our counselors are dedicated to helping married couples of every background achieve happiness and work towards building healthier relationships. We welcome everyone to discuss their religious beliefs or questions, but we do not impart our faith onto those who prefer a more secular approach.

How do I find the right Christian marriage counselor?

At Tacoma Christian Counseling, we do our best to match you with a counselor who will best suit your individual needs. We have several counselors who specialize in marriage and premarital counseling. You can browse our counselor profiles online and schedule an initial, risk-free session.

Do we meet together or separately?

Whether you meet individually or always together depends on what your counselor understands to be in your best interest. Your counselor is trained in knowing which type of session is most beneficial at the time.

Will my insurance cover marriage counseling?

Most insurance providers cover marriage counseling, but with only one partner as the patient. Tacoma Christian Counseling accepts a variety of insurance plans. We advise you to speak with your insurance agent to determine whether marriage counseling is covered. Our responsive staff is here to answer any questions you have about paying for services.

Do you provide premarital counseling?

Yes. We are dedicated to helping couples during each phase of their relationship. Click here to learn more about our premarital counseling services.

Contact us today to learn how Christian marriage counseling can get your relationship on the road to recovery and fulfillment.

The professionals at Tacoma Christian Counseling are passionate about helping couples rebuild damaged areas of their relationship, so they can move towards building a loving, trusting, and dedicated marriage. We welcome you to schedule an appointment online or give us a call at (253) 777-1997. Don’t lose hope for your marriage. Christian Marriage counseling might be the solution you’ve been looking for.