(1888PressRelease)
September 05, 2007 - When the car starts to play up we take it to the garage, if the computer stops working, we quickly call the computer shop, so what’s the big deal about getting our relationship/marriage fixed, or just put back on track when something goes wrong. Maybe it’s because counselling of this nature has in the past been expected to be awkward and uncomfortable, which is seldom the case, or maybe it’s the negative stigma, which has always been associated to it, which is really surprising, considering the high level of success often achieved.
Literally millions of couples experience temporary problems in their relationships every year, fortunately they often repair themselves in just a short time. Occasionally though, professional help is required, especially when the relationship becomes stretched: differences or habits that you once found endearing may now get on your nerves. Sometimes, specific issues, such as an extramarital affair, will trigger conflict in a relationship: other times, there's a gradual disintegration of communication and caring. Whatever the cause, distress in a relationship often causes undue stress, tension, sadness, worry, fear and other problems. You may hope your relationship troubles will just go away on their own, but if left to fester, a bad relationship may only worsen and eventually lead to physical or psychological problems, such as depression.
Now a new approach is becoming available which appears to be positively encouraging couples to seek help. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, CBT, is once again being hailed as the silver bullet that many believe has the potential to achieve quite dramatic results for those with relationship difficulties. This fresh approach is challenging, head on, the TV sitcom vision of the ‘marriage guidance counsellor’ and is bringing its modern, structured, goal-focused and time-limited benefits to the counsellor’s office. CBT has, in just a short period of time, become the treatment of choice, with the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) recommending it for an ever-increasing range of problems.
CBT tends to deal with the 'here and now' - how your current thoughts and behaviours are affecting you now. It recognises that events in your past have shaped the way that you currently think and behave, however, CBT does not dwell on the past, but aims to find solutions to changing your current thoughts and behaviours so that you can function better and move forward.
Because of the limited availability of counsellors in many UK regions and the associated long waiting times for appointments, a growing number of British couples are taking the somewhat unusual step of seeking, and discovering the benefits of undertaking their counselling sessions abroad.
There are many private counsellors/clinics across Europe, each offering their own dedicated relationship therapy. At a British run clinic in Marbella, they have received global publicity recently for its revolutionary approach to relationship counselling. They have taken the CBT element to a new level and developed their own specialist approach, which they have named Life Architecture. It utilises the benefits of CBT with the addition of a collection of very detailed diagnostic questionnaires, each designed to assist the therapist in quickly locating any problem areas in the couple’s relationship.
Often the counselling can be just short-term, just a few sessions to help the couple weather a crisis: others may need counselling for an extended period, particularly if their relationship has greatly deteriorated. Results have proved to be both dramatic and rapid, often achieved by the simple changing/adjusting of the dynamics in the relationship. The therapists fully appreciate that when couples decide to seek their help it is potentially one of the most important decisions they will ever make. Often couples at this time are feeling troubled and fragile, and need to be treated gently and compassionately, with the therapy being delivered at the speed and depth best suited to them.
Couples based in the UK will be pleased to know that the ‘Life Architecture’ treatment package has proved so popular that the clinic has agreed to introduce a dedicated training programme for UK based counsellors by the end of the year.
More information is available at, http://www.eliteclinics.com/relationships.html
