That’s a question that we hear often from people before they decide to see a marriage counselor. Many therapists say that a significant factor in the success of counseling is the motivation of the couple. The more that a couple wants to work on their marriage, the more likely it is that counseling will help.
The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy published the results of a study that asked clients of family therapists and marriage counselors to rate their experiences and their results. The results were overwhelmingly...
That’s a question that we hear often from people before they decide to see a marriage counselor. Many therapists say that a significant factor in the success of counseling is the motivation of the couple. The more that a couple wants to work on their marriage, the more likely it is that counseling will help.
The Journal of Marital and Family Therapy published the results of a study that asked clients of family therapists and marriage counselors to rate their experiences and their results. The results were overwhelmingly positive and offer some insight into people’s overall satisfaction with marriage counseling.
The researchers who conducted the study spoke to clients from 526 marriage and family counselors in 15 different states. Here is a summary of what they found:
98.1% rated services good or excellent
97.1% got the kind of help they desired
97.4% were generally satisfied with the service they received
93.0% said they were helped in dealing more effectively with problems
96.9% would recommend their therapist to a friend
94.3% would return to the same therapist in the future
91.2% were satisfied with the amount of help they received
54.8% reported improvement in functioning at work
73.7% indicated improvement in children’s behavior
58.7% showed improvement in children’s school performance
63.4% reported improved physical health
Excerpted from "Clinical Practice Patterns of Marriage and Family Therapists: A National Survey of Therapists and Their Clients", Journal of Marital and Family Therapy--Volume 22, No. 1
The study didn’t necessarily look at whether or not marriage counseling worked, but the results certainly indicate that people were pleased with the counseling and the counselors themselves. So, if you and your spouse are want to work on your relationship, marriage counseling certainly seems like a good place to start.
