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Marriage Counseling and Couples Counseling
Looking for some ways to have a more satisfying relationship?
We can help you discover the things that make you feel closer to your loved one. Couples in conflict often don’t know what makes the other person happy. Usually we try to make our spouse happy by doing what makes us happy. If often goes like this:
John feels close to Susan when she hugs him and tells him she loves him. So he tries that strategy on Susan. But Susan is instead wanting John to take out the trash, thinking that if he truly cared, he would take care of things around the house. So when John approaches Susan with a hug, she pushes him away telling him to take out the trash. John is offended by her rebuff and stomps out of the house (without the trash of course).
Because opposites often attract, couples often want their needs met in different ways and interpret their spouses efforts the wrong way.
What to Expect When You Come For Marriage Counseling or Couples Counseling
Hi, I’m Joe Taylor, Licensed Marriage and Family therapist. When you come for marriage counseling or couples counseling at Chico Creek Counseling, I will be your counselor. It’s my job to help guide you through the murky waters of rebuilding or strengthening your relationship. During Couples Counseling, I work towards helping you; 1) resolve the negative emotional responses in your relationship. 2) encourage and motivate you when you’re feeling discouraged, and 3) work with you to find creative strategies to strengthen your relationship.
When you come to me for Couples Counseling, you, your spouse and I become a team to think of ways to solve the concerns you’re having in your marriage. After I hear your story and your spouse’s story, I will give you some questionnaires. These questionnaires tell me about you, your relationship and the stress which is in your marriage. They also give me some clues as to how to help your marriage. I’ll work with you quickly to put together a strategy should make sense to you. In fact, his strategy should encourage and give you some hope that the pressures you’re currently experiencing will soon be better.
How to Make Your First Appointment
You can call the Chico Creek Counseling office at 530-410-0505. If we don’t answer leave a message for Joe Taylor, Marriage and Family Therapist. I will call you back quickly. I will respond to your questions and schedule a time within a few days to meet with you and your spouse. Or you can click on the link contact us to send us an email. Be sure to tell us a little about why you’re seeking counseling and a phone number so we can call you back. If at all possible, make sure your spouse is an active participant in this decision process.
What Is the Cost?
Most of the time the one of the first questions asked when people call our office is “what does counseling cost?” We’re all concerned about good use of our money in this economic downturn. You need to be aware that if your marriage is in crisis, you need to see a therapist soon and often; sometimes twice a week.
Many people are under the misunderstanding that their insurance will pay for marriage counseling. However, this is usually not the case. Generally your insurance company will not pay for marriage counseling unless the therapist determines that you or your spouse has a mental disorder. Then in such a case the focus of counseling would need to be on the mental disorder. So, you generally cannot expect your insurance to pay for marriage or couples counseling.
It's safe to assume that you will need to pay for counseling out of your pocket. Our standard fee for therapy at Chico Creek Counseling is $100 per session. We’ve found that this is about the average fee for our area, although fees may vary depending on the therapist. It’s most helpful to see your counselor at least once a week. When you consider that the stresses in your marriage may have taken years to develop, you will also need to understand that it may take a few weeks or months to resolve them and get your relationship healthy again.
After you’ve recovered from the idea of spending hundreds of dollars to have us help you have a happy and fulfilling marriage, think about it like this; there's nothing you can buy for $3,000 to $5,000 that will give you the same joy, happiness and fulfillment that a healthy marriage provides. We found that if couples are truly committed to each other, love each other and are willing to meet each other's needs, then they’re more willing to go without many other things to make their relationship work. It will be money well spent. We’ve also noticed that happy and emotionally healthy couples are more productive; having more time and energy to put into the positive aspects of their lives.
A cost saving alternative – join a couples group.