3 Tips for Your Online Marriage Counseling Session
If you’re thinking about online marriage counseling, I imagine you want the process to be smooth and effective. Whether you have experienced infidelity, grief, or trauma, or you’re just wanting to have a better relationship, online couples therapy might be a good option for you. You are coming to therapy because you know your relationship needs work, and you want to be closer as a couple. I want the same thing for you. My goal is to help you improve your relationship and to get what you need out of the process. There are things that you can do to ensure that therapy is effective. When considering the online platform, there are things to keep in mind in order to make sure a session goes well.
If online marriage counseling doesn’t work, it’s usually because one of these three things hasn’t been implemented, which causes you to not get all that you could out of this process. Here are some of my best tips to have a successful marriage counseling experience.
1. Come prepared with topics
While I am happy to help explore areas of your relationship with you, it’s helpful if you have some information and an idea of what you want to talk about. Every couple has different struggles and a different area of their relationship that they know needs to be the focus. It will be helpful to all of us if you are able to be open about these topics. Being able to talk about instances during the week where you and your partner struggled in those areas will make a difference in making progress in therapy. It’s my job to help you make improvements in those areas, and I can put together all the puzzle pieces with the more information you give me.
2. Minimize distractions
When using an online platform, it’s easy to get distracted by children, people at the door, the TV, etc. Just like an in-person therapy session, all of these things need to be put on the back burner so the therapy session doesn’t get disjointed. I understand kids will always do the unexpected, and that’s ok but try to do all you can to not let the therapy session be hijacked by these things. Treat an online therapy session the same way that you would an in-person therapy session. Set aside an hour of your time to be able to have your sole focus be on talking about your relationship with your spouse.
3. Have a good internet connection & privacy
Making sure that is internet session doesn’t time out and cause the session to be disjointed or communication to be strained will make a huge difference. It happens to me too so don’t stress when the internet times out sometimes. However, we need to be able to see each other on camera without it being blurred or muffled. It’s also important to ensure that you have privacy to talk about your relationship. If you are worried about who will hear you, you are likely not to be able to be open about the specifics of the struggle in your relationship.
Does online marriage counseling really work?
The American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy provides information on how to have effective online marriage counseling sessions. The pandemic taught us how to implement skills for online therapy, and as a therapist, through this experience, I have been given the knowledge and experience to make online marriage therapy just as effective if not more effective than an in-person therapy session.
What will make your therapy the most effective and successful is following the above tips of coming prepared with topics, having a secure internet connection and privacy, and minimizing any distractions that may disrupt your experience in session. There’s no reason to believe doing therapy online will be any less effective than in-person.
Online marriage counseling in Utah can help improve your relationship
I love that online marriage counseling allows us the opportunity to meet together without having to travel or be stuck in traffic. I know how to navigate a good online therapy session as part of my training, which allows you to have the most effective therapy experience possible. Your relationship with your spouse is the most important one you have, and I know being able to heal from the past hurts, and overcome bad experiences together is what matters. You can trust that it’s possible for you to have the type of relationship you want to have, and online marriage counseling can help get you there.
Start online marriage counseling in Utah
You don’t have to keep feeling disconnected from your spouse. You can feel understood and learn how to talk to each other again. Marriage counseling can help. This Utah Counseling Clinic has a marriage therapist specializing in marriage counseling. To begin therapy follow the steps below:
Meet with a marriage counselor in Utah
Begin improving your relationship
Other mental health services provided by Marcus Hunt Therapy
Marriage counseling isn’t the only counseling service provided at this Utah Counseling Practice. Other mental health services provided by Marcus Hunt Therapy include premarital counseling, LDS marriage counseling, EMDR therapy, therapy for men, depression therapy, and anxiety therapy in Utah. Schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to see how I can help.
About the Author
Marcus Hunt is a marriage and family therapist at Marcus Hunt Therapy in Utah. He received his bachelor's in behavioral science from Utah Valley University. Marcus also has a master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. He is passionate about making sure couples have access to improving their marriage through online therapy. Marcus loves helping couples learn to communicate and express themselves in healthy ways to ensure a healthy marriage. When Marcus isn’t doing therapy, he enjoys spending time with his wife and two Goldendoodles.