No relationship is perfect and without stress or arguments. In fact, a sign of a healthy relationship can include the presence of mild arguments. However, when couples fail to resolve their differences, a relationship can be in serious jeopardy. For those who have such problems, but wish to work through them, different forms of therapy can provide the solution. There are many types of therapy and counseling available and we compiled our list of what we think are the top 5 forms of therapy available for couples. In no particular order, they are:
- Biofeedback Therapy
You may have heard of the phrase Biofeedback Therapy and wondered what exactly it is? Based on original research by Harvard graduate Edmund Jacobson from the early 20th century, biofeedback therapy is useful for not just psychological counseling but also as a form of physical therapy for treating and addressing various ailments. The main idea behind biofeedback therapy is that various measuring tools and devices are used to provide real-time information on your bodies heart rate, blood pressure, brainwave patterns, temperature, and even breathing. The goal is then to be aware of all this sensory and systematic information and to learn how to control these processes. The idea is to help create a strong mind and body connection and to help with learning how to control normally involuntary bodily processes. Sometimes biofeedback therapy incorporates the use of technological devices that help with analyzing and refining your bodies behavior.
Biofeedback therapy has been used to help address physical issues such as anxiety, high blood pressure, ADHD, asthma, fibromyalgia, and irritable bowel syndrome, but it can also be used for psychological counseling, especially for couples’ therapy and marriage counseling.
https://www.regain.us/advice/therapist/couples-therapy-cost-is-it-worth-it/
Biofeedback therapy can help couples learn to communicate in a stronger and more precise way. It also can also help with reducing anger by learning to recognize the physical symptoms of anger as they arise and learning how to mediate them so as to be more in control of this emotional state. It never helps to enter a conversation, discussion, or argument while upset, so through using biofeedback therapy principles we can control our emotions and have more productive and meaningful dialogues with our partners, without resorting to shouting.
Read more about Biofeedback Therapy in our article here:
https://www.regain.us/advice/therapist/what-is-biofeedback-therapy-and-will-it-work-for-me/
2. Interpersonal Therapy
Interpersonal Psychotherapy is a form of therapy originally developed at Yale University.
Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) focuses on four problem areas: Role Transitions, Role Disputes, Unresolved Grief, and Interpersonal Deficits. Interpersonal therapy utilizes several specific techniques to help address underlying past and present emotional issues and to bring them to the forefront so they can be resolved NOW. Some of the specific techniques used in IPT includes: identifying one’s emotions and mapping them out, learning how to healthily express one’s different emotions including jealousy and anger, and learning how to psychological address the problems of our past and learning to accept them.
There are several benefits to interpersonal therapy which can help improve a couple’s relationship. These include helping improve an individual’s stress and grief coping skills, as well as helping improve a couple’s problem-solving skills by allowing them to work together as a team to overcome challenges, and finally, it can help combat mental health issues like depression and addiction.
You can learn more about Interpersonal Therapy on our blog article located here:
https://www.regain.us/advice/therapist/how-you-can-benefit-from-interpersonal-therapy/
3. Imago Relationship Therapy
Imago Relationship Therapy focuses primarily on how individuals form relationships with others. The idea behind Imago Relationship Therapy is that as children, our earliest experiences with nurture and love from family members help create a pattern or “imago” which we rely upon as adults when seeking intimacy and partnership with others. Psychological trauma from our childhood can affect this “imago” and alter it into a negative pattern of intimacy and nurture seeking which can cause problems for us in our adult relationships.
Imago Relationship Therapy relies on two strategies to help patients work through their trauma. This includes mirroring and containment practices.
If you are interested in reading more about Imago Relationship Theory, we have an excellent article available here:
https://www.regain.us/advice/therapist/the-aspects-of-imago-relationship-therapy/
4. Rational Emotive Therapy
Rational Emotive Therapy is similar to other forms of therapy like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which is commonly used in psychological counseling.
Rational Emotive Therapy focuses on the philosophical aspect of why we think, feel, and behave in certain ways. While Cognitive Behavioral Therapy aims to simply change an individual’s behavior, Rational Emotive Therapy tries to take things a step further in helping an individual understand WHY they make these behaviors. A big component of Rational Emotive Therapy is positive self-affirmation, teaching individuals how to be comfortable and loving with themselves. Self-esteem is a huge and critical factor in shaping our behaviors, and Rational Emotive Therapy tries to promote thinking and actions which reinforce positive self-esteem in an individual.
Rational Emotive Therapy can help couples achieve common goals, and accept personal responsibility for their feelings and actions. It can improve emotional resilience and therefore help improve the quality of a relationship.
If you are interested in Rational Emotive Therapy you can check out:
https://www.regain.us/advice/therapist/what-is-rational-emotive-therapy-and-how-can-it-help-me/
