Ask These Questions Before You Consider Marriage Counseling

It's wedding season! And if you're in the middle of planning a wedding yourself, you may be thinking about the dream dress, dream venue, dream centerpieces... but what about the dream marriage? If you are worried about something (anything) in your relationship with your partner and are considering going to counseling, Brit.Co has a few questions you should ask before you seek out marriage counseling.

• What is the goal? If you want to repair your relationship with your spouse, go to counseling. However, if you are only agreeing to go to counseling to get your partner to stop pestering you/annoying you/what-have-you, then you may not be ready to go yet.
• Am I engaging in an affair? For someone who might be seeing someone other than their spouse, especially if you don't want to end the extramarital affair, couples counseling will not be useful for the two of you. If you are willing to end the affair, you might be able to move forward, but nothing can help you if you are still with someone else as well.
• Are we able to sit in the same room and discuss our issues calmly? Then counseling is definitely going to be helpful. If one of you is prone to getting upset and leaving the room, then you may want to attempt individual counseling to work things out first before heading into a session together.

As the honeymoon phase fades, many couples (1.8 million people!) find the use of counseling and therapy extremely helpful to them. You and your partner may also benefit from it.

(via Brit.Co)