We don’t have to wait until a marriage relationship hits rock bottom before seeking the help of a marriage counsellor. They are skilled professionals and trained listeners who are there to help you work out and resolve your problems.
What Relationship Counsellors WON’T do
1. Tell you to end your marriage. If you’ve come to that decision yourself you may talk to your counsellor about it. Particularly in the case of abusive relationships.
2. Offer destructive criticism about actions, behaviours and opinions.
3. Give you an opinion on your partner whether it’s good or bad.
Paul Meier explains why we need to get professional help.
GET PROFESSIONAL HELP IF NEEDED.
“We don’t mind seeing doctors for bronchitis, pains that creep up in our bodies, or other diseases; and we don’t mind bringing in professional consultants to help us “fix” our businesses when they show signs of financial weaknesses. But many of us are too proud to go to a professional Christian marriage therapist to analyse what problems have accidentally (or sometimes wilfully) crept into our marriages to make them temporarily “sick.” God teaches us in Proverbs 13:10 (NLT), “Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise…”
“…Get professional help to make your marriage fun and more loving again. “
What can I talk to the counsellor about?
Basically anything that comes up can be discussed with a marriage/relationships counsellor.
These are the most common issues arising from conflicts within a marriage.
• Cross cultural relationships
• Affairs and betrayals
• Family issues
• Pre-marital issues
• Sexual Intimacy
• Separation and divorce
• Financial issues
• Arguments about Children
Most counsellors have heard it all before and offer a good ear to those willing to work towards keeping their marriages.
“How completely satisfying to turn from our limitations to a God who has none.” A.W. Tozer
Sources:
Professional Counselling: http://www.professional-counselling.com/relationship-counselling.html
Counselling Directory: http://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/relationship.html
Where to get help
If you need help, talking to your doctor is a good place to start. If you’d like to find out more, or talk to someone else, here are some organisations that can help:
Relationships Australia – Relationships Australia offers family and relationship counselling as well as a range of specialist counselling services.1300 364 277
Lifeline – Do you find yourself find in a Crisis? Call 13 11 14 or chat online
Have you thought about becoming a qualified counsellor? It’s a great opportunity to learn how you can extend God's love and grace to the hurting out in the community.
For those who would like to enrol in aifc’s accredited Christian counselling courses we have two intakes per year for courses commencing around the following months:
Enrolment Season - opens approximately 2 months prior to our courses commencing. Enrol online here during our enrolment season.
We also offer two modes of study:
A Master of Counselling course was introduced in 2018.