Signs of marriage trouble

What are the warning signs of marriage trouble or marital discord?  Previous articles described the kinds of difficulties that might prompt one to seek marriage or couples therapy. But, how does one know whether one needs couples therapy or whether they are encountering the every day turbulence inherent in intimate relationships. To have a strong relationship, couples need to:

  • agree on values, goals and life styles
  • communicate openly
  • support each other
  • trust each other
  • share the responsibilities of maintaining a household together
  • tolerate differences
  • tolerate conflict
  • if you want children, prepare for the birth of a child
  • adjust to the birth of a child.
  • plan ahead as to how you will share child rearing responsibilities
  • if you have children support each other through the children’s adolescence
  • survive your in-laws 🙂
  • act as a united team
  • maintain fidelity
  • agree on child rearing practices
  • establish and maintain appropriate boundaries with each other
  • be emotionally intimate and be able to function as separate individuals
  • find a way to meet each others needs for physical intimacy

Do we need Marriage Counseling? Warning Signs of Marriage Trouble

Ideas about what constitutes a healthy marriage vary from couple to couple and culture to culture. Many couples have trouble in one or more of the above areas. However, they are able to sit down, talk about and work out their differences. Some couples are able to look out on the horizon and anticipate challenges down the road; they can make a plan as to how they can best address them.  Difficulty talking to each other and collaborating on plans for the future may serve as a warning sign that an evaluation for couples therapy could be useful.

If you are interested in a consultation for couples therapy, feel free to call me at: 240.483.3530. 

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Dr. Lynn Friedman

Dr. Lynn Friedman, Ph.D., FABP, is a Clinical Psychologist, a Supervising and Training Analyst, and a Clinical Supervisor in full-time, private practice. She provides evaluation, psychotherapy and psychoanalysis as well as supervision to psychoanalysts-in-training and other mental health professionals. Beyond this, she is a board certified, psychoanalyst who teaches at Johns Hopkins University and the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis.

I'm interested in exploring a consultation with you, what's my next step?

I provide psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, clinical consultation, supervision & executive coaching. If you are seeking consultation from a psychologist, psychoanalyst, in DC, feel free to call me: 240.483.3530.