People turn to counselors to help them confront and deal with difficult circumstances or to work on their personal or relationship issues. However, depending on the nature of the problems or relationships they have, different people may seek different types of counseling. Family counseling and couples counseling are both very popular therapy methods, but they are not the same.
What Is Family Counseling?
Family counseling helps families who are addressing issues that affect the entire family. The family could be a parent and a child or a larger unit, such as multiple parents and children or an extended family that includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. Families who seek counseling may be trying to work through conflict or handle a stressful situation.
With therapy, families learn to cope with situations by using methods that are beneficial for the family as a whole. They also learn to more successfully relate to each other. Families usually get counseling for such issues as:
- Death or illness of a family member
- Major life transitions
- Money problems
- Problems with communication
- Separation or divorce
- Substance abuse
- Traumatic events
What Is Couples Counseling?
When couples are having problems in their relationship, they may choose to speak to a couples therapist. Couples counseling is meant to help couples better communicate with each other, more openly express their feelings and emotions, and reconnect with each other when their problems are causing them to drift apart. Couples in all different types and levels of relationship go to couples counseling. If the couple is married, their therapy is known as marriage counseling. The issues that many couples deal with in therapy include:
- Disagreements about money.
- Difficulty communicating.
- Emotional concerns.
- Excessive arguing.
- Infidelity.
- Loss of a child.
- Sexual issues.
- Trouble relating to each other.
Differences Between Family and Couples Counseling
The biggest difference between these two types of counseling is who is seeking the counseling and who is affected by the problems being addressed. Families seek family counseling for family issues, while couples go to couples counseling for problems within their relationship as a couple. However, if a couple has children and needs guidance for issues that affect the whole family, then they would want family therapy.
However, it is important to remember issues may overlap. For example, a couple may seek marriage therapy for their concerns as a couple. But if those problems result in divorce, they would bring the entire family to counseling, since that would then become a family issue. On the other hand, problems within the family unit can also negatively impact a couple’s relationship, leading them to seek couples counseling. Whether someone is interested in sorting through problems related to their marriage or romantic relationship, or they are looking to resolve conflict or other issues in their family, seeking counseling is very beneficial. It can encourage communication, teach coping mechanisms, and help people learn to relate to each other better and work together to solve problems. Horizon Counseling Services offers a whole range of therapy options, including family counseling and couples counseling.
