Couples and Marriage Counseling:
Creating, Sustaining and Rebuilding Partnerships that Last
You’ve probably tried everything you can think of to make your relationship work. You initiated date night, avoided talking about issues you knew would lead to an argument and have been more forgiving and patient to give your partner time to change. Maybe you’ve gone to workshops, read the latest how to save your relationship book. While these efforts have been helpful, they haven’t changed your relationship dynamic. Sometimes you get so frustrated that you get angry at your partner and then your partner goes into resistance and your relationship has taken two steps back.
You might have attended couples counseling for a few sessions or if your partner wasn’t willing to go with you, you went on your own thinking you could figure out how to fix your relationship. Yet despite all your good intentions and efforts, you’re still feeling sad, lonely, resentful, hurt and frustrated. And the longer you go on feeling disconnected to your partner, the stronger your hopelessness feels.
Let’s start moving forward so you and your spouse or partner can grow together as a couple through effective marriage counseling with me, Michael Barmak, MSW, LCSW. I’m a skilled professional counselor who is passionate about helping partners grow together and build healthy, satisfying relationships.
Successful Marriage Counseling
So you’re probably wondering: “What can Michael give us and help us learn when nothing else has made a significant difference?”
Hope: By experiencing a new way of being with each other where both of you take personal responsibility.
Skills: By teaching both of you how to communicate in a way that creates safety and strengthens your relationship.
Appreciation: By showing you how to value and understand each other so that you feel cared for.
Teamwork: By having you work together instead of both thinking “I’m the one who’s right.”
Don’t Give Up – You Deserve Thriving And Satisfying Partnership
Are there nights when you think the only thing you have in common is that you’re both sitting on the same couch? And you’re thinking to yourself, “Thank goodness we didn’t buy that love seat or we’d have to sit closer to each other!” Now I want you to imagine a different picture. Yes, you’re still on the same couch. That hasn’t changed. What’s different now is that the two of you are snuggled up close together watching movies. Instead of competing with screens for your partner’s attention, you’re spending time together sharing the highs and lows of your days while feeling supported, listened to and cared for.
Couples Counseling with Michael
After more than twenty years of practice, I have found my real passion in therapy is working with couples. I love helping two people learn how to communicate more effectively, share their happiness, grow closer and live a loving and fulfilling life together. As part of this work, I have incorporated two therapy models – Inner Bonding and Imago Relationship Therapy into my approach called, The Couples Conversation.
The Couples Conversation and Inner Bonding
Inner Bonding is all about taking personal responsibility for your own happiness and learning how to love yourself so that you can share your love with your partner. There are six steps to the Inner Bonding process, and I’ve applied these steps to the process of building stronger and more deeply connected relationships. I call this, the Couples Conversation. This approach to couples counseling is all about transforming your relationship, so that you and your partner both feel satisfied and your partnership thrives.
Imago Relationship Therapy
This approach to marriage counseling is very personal to me because, when I had difficulties within my own marriage, this technique is what helped my wife and me reconnect and create a thriving relationship. I use one of the tools, the Couples Dialogue, to help couples learn how to have healthier communication by partners listening, validating and empathizing.
Marriage Counseling for Every Step of Your Relationship Journey
If you’re ready to learn these new skills so you and your partner can become that happy cuddling couple on the couch, it’s time for couples and marriage counseling in New Jersey. Ready to feel more hopeful about your relationship and rekindle your romance? Contact me to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to find out more about couples and marriage counseling in New Jersey and how it can move your relationship forward.