British Association for Counseling and Psychotherapy
It is impossible for marriage therapy to be effective when the two parties have opposing goals. In the case of a couple when one spouse is more devoted to performing the necessary effort than the other, therapy will not be effective. It will also not work if any of the partners is not entirely honest with the other partners.
According to Zentman, most counselors who aren’t educated in marital counseling don’t make a diagnosis, but instead focus on symptoms such as poor communication. They advise the couple to do things such as go out together one night a week, offer each other more praises, and listen without interrupting each other.
A marital therapist or couples counselor, other than you and your spouse, may be the most competent person to offer advice on the state of your relationship apart from yourselves. As it turns out, these professionals may be even more familiar with your relationship than you are since they have the advantage of viewing things from a different point of view.
It has been reported in the New York Times that two years after concluding marital counseling, 25 percent of couples are in a worse financial situation than they were when they began, and after four years, 38 percent are divorced. These bleak numbers are not carved in stone if the couple finds a skilled therapist who uses a proven strategy to help them overcome their difficulties.
The majority of couples seek marital therapy when it is much too late to preserve their marriages, and the majority of marriage counselors are the kiss of death for most relationships. By the time couples seek help from a counselor, they are frequently seeking final approval for their marriage.