Does Marriage counseling work?

"...Does marriage counseling work ?”... That's what I'm often asked, and my answer is yes, if you work it! In our counseling experience we have found that if a person is ready to change and is opened to examining himself/herself by looking into the mirror of the word of God, then marriage counseling can work. (Proverbs 11:14, 15:22, 19:20&21, 20:18)

One of the hardest things for some of us to do is to look at ourselves and take responsibility for our short comings, faults and wrong actions. Most would rather justify us and our actions by blaming the other person or our childhood or another race of people or society or the job or anything and everybody else but ourselves.

However, the first step to healing and getting your marriage on the right track is admitting we have a problem and we both are willing to do whatever it takes to make it right.

Is everybody ready to be healed? One spouse can’t demand the other to come to counseling and expect the best results. It can happen, but most of the time it takes two (2) willing participants for success.

Next, I believe successful and productive marriage counseling must come from the word of God, the Bible. God is the manufacturer of marriage and only He knows how it should work and He is the one who gives us the power and ability to live together in love, peace and harmony. People can tell you all day what they think. However, God’s word has specific instructions that if followed will give you a marriage that is joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Good marriage counseling will give you tools that you can take with you to apply to your marriage immediately. When you do the work, marriage counseling works according to James 1:22.

I repeat, marriage counseling will work only if you are willing to get to work. Counseling is not a magic carpet that will ride you to a blissful marriage if you are telling the counselor lies and not willing to reveal all of the truth and nothing but the truth. Even a good counselor can’t do anything with a lie.

The next time you find yourself asking, "Does marriage counseling work?" spend some time and ask yourself, "Am I ready to work for this marriage?"

In our own journey to divorce reconciliation, we dealt with marriage counselors at one point or another and have created a checklist you should consult in figuring out whether the kind you get will work for you or not.

Continue to read all the resources on this site. Contact us for our services when you are ready