Mental health issues affect more than just the patient. They affect the patient’s friends, family and their significant others. But it’s not always clear to those without the proper training which types of treatment may be helpful. In some cases, individual treatment may make the most sense, but you should also consider couples counseling in Burnsville.
Just as you rely on a doctor to provide the correct prescription for physical ailments you should talk to a mental health professional to explore the best treatment. In this post, we’ll use individual and couples counseling to look at two seemingly similar treatments that are useful for different situations.
Couples Counseling
For couples who are having trouble dealing with problems together, couples counseling may make the most sense. In these sessions, the therapist interacts with the patients as a couple. When couples come in together, the therapist is better able to observe the couple’s habits of communication.
If you’re having trouble in your relationship, emotions likely run high. These intense emotions may make it difficult to see what’s going on between the two of you. A trained professional will observe, evaluate and offer feedback to facilitate the problem-solving process.
Individual Counseling
Individual counseling is helpful for a variety of problems—depression and anxiety, dealing with major life challenges and more. As the name implies, the focus in this type of therapy is the individual. Therapists are trained to help create a relationship and provide a safe harbor for patients to express themselves.
This is meant to facilitate the reflective process, allowing patients to analyze and process difficult emotions.
Individual and Couples Counseling
While there are differing schools of thought, most therapists will recommend that couples come in together for counseling. But it’s not unheard of for individual counseling to help resolve ongoing relationship issues.
A combination of both may be the best option for you and your spouse. But the only way to know for sure is to talk to a mental health professional about couples counseling in Burnsville.
River Ridge provides couples counseling in Burnsville and the surrounding areas. We’d be happy to share some strategies that have worked for our patients. We’re here to help, so don’t hesitate to call us if you have questions at (952)894-7722. You can also visit the rest of our website to learn more about our process and the programs we offer.
