COUPLES AND MARITAL
COUNSELING
Couples who experience serious and often gridlocked problems generally wait too long to seek help and their problems become entrenched. They feel abandoned and rejected and don’t feel listened to when they try to express their pain. Their fights may become unpleasant or they may avoid each other altogether. Using science-based therapy founded on 30 years of research and experience on what happily married couples do right, Dr. Kovner helps couples manage the negativity they stir up, learn to reattach, bond or team up and solve problems, and to dive below the surface of their problems to help them reconnect emotionally.
Call Now (770) 993-3002
On the average, couples don’t come to therapy until they are thoroughly entrenched in their habits, usually after 6 or 7 years of marriage. So it is no wonder that it could take a year of therapy to begin managing their negativity. Developing good study habits early in therapy aids progress. Couples that do assigned homework exercises are most successful. However, it appears that most couples do not routinely practice their newly taught skills and frequently relapse into the Attack-Defend mode. Two approaches that have been most successful in bolstering clients through the skills acquisition stage is to provide a marital education class or to attend an intensive two-day couples retreat (read more).
Learning About Marriage-Marital Education
Whether you are planning to get married or are already living together as a couple and are interested in forming a lasting loving relationship, or enhancing the relationship you have, Marital Education is recommended for you. In the class you will learn the skills that come naturally to happily married couples. The essential skills, facts, and insights are presented in a full day with two or three couples. The thorough review of the treatment model and exercises used in therapy gives clients an overview of the Gottman approach to marital therapy. Couples learn the skills needed to build a sound marital house (read more).
What Do Couples Need To Learn For Lasting Change?
Meta analytical studies show that 30 to 50% of couples who show initial improvement in marital therapy will relapse within 2 years after treatment. To ensure lasting change, couples must be able to reduce negativity during conflict, increase positivity during conflict and increase positivity when not in conflict. This is the goal of therapy at the Kovner Center for Behavioral Health and Psychological Testing.
Who Should Attend The Pre-Marital and Marital/Couples Education Class?
Generally, when therapists use the one-hour per week counseling model to provide marital therapy, the success rate is generally very poor. Part of the reason is that most couples wait about 5 to 6 years before coming to see a therapist and by that time, their problems are entrenched. Furthermore, most couples simply do not have the time to read, study, do homework, or practice changes in behavior. Often, the result is that one year after therapy, most couples show no improvement. The solution is Marital Education. During this class, you will be given the overview of the treatment program, the goals, the methods and the exercises used to capitalize on your strengths and to improve your relationship.
Prior to couples counseling, a one day class (Marital University) in the art and science of creating a successful relationship improves treatment outcome. The class is from 9AM to 5PM and is conducted on Saturdays at Dr. Kovner’s office. The class is usually attended by two or three couples. Because we are teaching, not treating, no personal disclosure is necessary and your confidentiality is preserved.
For couples that desire a more private class, arrangements can be made for them.
Marital Education is not for everyone. For couples that are experiencing extreme distress and marital crises, the Couples Therapy Retreat is more appropriate.
Couples Crises Therapy – Weekend Retreat
The Couples Therapy Retreat is a skills-building therapy program for one couple in distress, perhaps on the brink of breaking up or divorcing. They feel their marriage is in a state of emergency and are seeking an immediate, private, intensive therapy experience to learn how to manage their negativity. The couple spends two days at Dr. Kovner’s comfortable office in Norcross, Georgia, learning and practicing relationship building skills using Gottman Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Transactional Analysis and more. The advantages of a Two-Day Retreat for Couples is that they can quickly explore their history, learn the skills up-front that are necessary to manage negativity, and develop insight into how their dreams have come into conflict. By accelerating their knowledge they can productively spend their weekly follow-up sessions applying that knowledge. Therapy is the application of knowledge learned.
What Couples Will Accomplish in the Two-Day Intensive Marital Therapy
Learn how to stop perceiving your partner in a way that brings out their defensiveness.
- Learn to identify triggers associated with anger, fear and sadness.
- Move out of the Attack-Defend stage of the marital argument and learn how to repair, collaborate and get back to solving the “real” problems of living a happy and fulfilling life.
- Rebuild friendship, fondness and admiration for each other.
To sign up for a Two-Day Intensive Marital Therapy Retreat, call now
(770) 993-3002
or, book an appointment yourself by clicking the link below.