How Christian Marriage Counselling Improve One’s Marriage
Married couples seek Christian marriage counselling for exactly the same reasons they seek regular marriage counseling. Marriage counseling with a Christian approach however is of a higher level.
Married couples who are struggling to make their marriage work and want to resolve their issues within the teachings and values of the Christian way of life prefer the Christian approach to marriage counseling. They believe that God needs to be in the center of their relationship and want to start anew with this in their minds and hearts.
Married couples usually seek marriage counseling when they are experiencing any of these concerns:
- They are going through financial stress and are in disagreement on how to deal with the situation.
- Either spouse is in conflict with his/her in-laws.
- They are bored with their relationship
- They are under stress because of the need to make both ends meet economically.
- Infidelity
- Evident parental challenges
When couples are in any of these situations, a marriage counselor can help them address and find solutions. A therapist will usually use behavioral therapeutic approaches to make them accept that they have a problem they need to resolve. He will also guide those using psychological theories.
Should the married couple decide to go through Christian marriage counselling, the therapeutic approach is taken a notch higher. Christian thoughts, values and philosophical theories are discussed and are looked upon as the main basis for resolving the conflicts on hand. A therapeutic session would usually involve reading the Bible to seek guidance.
Most couples seek the Christian approach to marriage counseling because they feel have deviated from having God in the center of their marriage. They feel that their marital conflicts are a result of their not living with the right Christian values.
How to Find a Christian Marriage Counselor
A couple accepting the fact that they need a marriage counselor is a good sign that they want to make their marriage work. Finding a marriage counselor that they both agree on can be a difficult task. While they both share the same religious beliefs, deciding on a Christian marriage counselor is often an ignored option. They will initially decide on a regular marriage counselor.
There are some devout Christians though who will always consider a Christian counselor to address marital problems because they believe that whatever God placed together, only God can help keep them together.
Since there are numerous religious practices and denomination, couples who want to seek the Christian approach to marriage counseling should always consider a counselor of the same religious beliefs as they have. It could be a problem though if the couple has different religious orientations.
Each Christian denomination has Christian counselors. The approaches, theories and philosophies that each Christian counselor uses is different. Given that two couples have the same marital issue, a Catholic couple working with a Catholic Christian counselor will be guided differently from a Protestant couple working with a Protestant Christian counselor. This is a logical analysis because each Christian denomination has specific beliefs and values about God. Notwithstanding the difference in approach, Christian marriage counselling still has God and the Bible as the main source of resolving such marital concerns.
