Online Marriage Counseling

It may seem that in today’s technologically-advanced world, you can ‘get anything online’. Perhaps that’s true because it’s now possible to undergo online marriage counseling. But just because it takes place online, does not make it any less effective. For some couples, it’s a logical solution for busy people.

How does it work?

Online marriage counseling begins with the couple completing a questionnaire and emailing it back to the organization. The answers will be analyzed and your assigned counselor will set about creating solutions that will help with your particular sets of issues.

It may take a few emails back and forth to really reach the crux of the matter, but the benefit of doing this online is that when you write something down, you are able to articulate it better and see it more clearly for yourself before handing it over to an objective third party to provide solutions.

Joint or individual

Depending on your situation, you may feel as though only you need to obtain advice via online marriage counseling. Especially in this case, it can be ideal because there is no need to leave the house for appointments, arrange child care or sneak around behind your spouse’s back. It can be very useful indeed to seek initial assistance via the Internet and if necessary, pursue it offline at a later date.

If, however, you and your spouse have come to an understanding that a counselor would be a wise idea for the sake of your relationship, then online marriage counseling can be just as effective as if you were to try to schedule time to attend offices, and sometimes more so.

Why online instead of in person?

The benefit of online marriage counseling is that you are able to discover the core concerns by filling out the comprehensive questionnaire provided. Simply by answering the questions, you will come to terms with these issues that may at first seem major, but in examining them yourself, may not seem so insurmountable. Your assigned counselor can take time to process your written answers without the regular give-and-take of a real time conversation and then pose her suggestions to you in a new session.

Many people who have used online marriage counseling have reported that it brings problems to a head much more effectively. Especially since there is no mincing of words, no caution not to cause disharmony, there is an acceleration towards the resolution. They report experiencing more clarity and more autonomy in reaching solutions, which makes them more confident that they can sustain them for much longer.

Hard copy

Since you have exchanged information via printed words with your counselor, online marriage counseling becomes like a written account of the problems you are facing and the suggestions that will help to solve them. You can print out and refer to these papers whenever you feel the need and you can sit down with your spouse and talk about them at your leisure or at a genuinely appropriate time.

Fees

Expect to pay around $60 per hour for online marriage counseling. The beauty is though, that you can complete your own contributions in as much time as you need, and not have to worry that your session – if it were face to face – is going to be up before you’ve achieved any satisfaction. Usually, it will take a one-hour session to introduce the troubled couple to the counselor and to begin to make inroads. Joint sessions cost from $120 and require both spouses to be present for two hours.

Some online marriage counselors offer block rates of a number of sessions for a set price or even an unlimited number of emails back and forth for a pre-determined period of time, say one month. Always check the response time promised. If you are required to wait for too long between sessions, the counseling may not achieve satisfactory results.

When not to use online marriage counseling

Do not consider online marriage counseling when there is a danger of someone being hurt or hurting someone else or when there is suspicion – or knowledge – of a child being endangered.