What to Expect in Your First Couples Counselling Session

It is such a great feeling having a life partner… when there is someone you can share your dreams with, someone who feels your pain and joy, someone who can listen to your stories of success and failures, someone who offers help when you need it most, someone who trusts you and keeps you company, and a lot more reasons to keep the relationship going.  But many events in life test our relationship, some make us even stronger, holding on to our partner, however, some trials may start slowly collapsing the bond we worked hard to build.  How can we save the relationship?  Have you tried couples counselling in Melbourne?

Couples counselling is a form of psychotherapy, where a structured conversation is developed by a trained professional.  Through this conversation, the couples are enabled to understand their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and eventually manage issues in their relationship and avoid break-up.  Becoming aware of the problem is the first step to finding a remedy to the situation.  So, what actually happens when you meet your therapist in the first couple’s counselling sessions?  

Familiarity First

The therapist introduces himself and explains the procedures that will be undertaken as the counselling progresses.  Also, they will ask both partners about their expectations as to why they submit themselves in the counselling sessions.

Getting to Know You More

You may be asked to share your history as a couple, how you met, the milestones and at the same time major challenges you have encountered so far.  Both partners’ individual information like family background, upbringing, and previous relationship experiences will have to be mentioned for these may affect the evaluation of the situation.

Focus on Main Issue

What brought you to the counselling is very important, both partners will be given a chance to tell the story based on their own perspective. Each will have to tell how they feel and what they believe has caused and escalated the problem.

Relationship Assessment

The therapist will observe you as partners, how you interact, and communicate, and how you take hold of conflicts during the session. The counsellor will have to determine areas of your strengths and weaknesses based on his observations and your answers to her questions related to how you manage stressful situations. 

Goal Setting

It is important to set realistic and achievable objectives, so the therapist will help you set your goals.  Your time and commitment as partners will help you achieve the objectives set.

Introduction to Therapeutic Techniques

Basic communication exercises may be introduced at first to help improve the relationship dynamics from the start.  Some homework exercises like practicing communication techniques, journaling about your emotions, or reflecting on specific issues may be assigned to you prior to the next meeting.

Emotional Expression

In the first session, emotionally challenging sensitive topics will be discussed, for expressing them is crucial for healing. Don’t worry, the therapist will help you in expressing this emotion so that each partner will listen to one another without being defensive.

Ground Rules

The counsellor reminds and ensures the confidentiality of each session, and then explains how future sessions will be structured and how they plan to track the progress.

Assessing Commitment

It is very important in the healing process that both partners participate actively in each session. The participants’ commitment is a must to really achieve the best outcome after the counsellng.