David Richard Oretsky, Marriage and Family Therapist

Couples counseling, also referred to as couples therapy or marital counseling, can help people assess and better understand fractures in their relationships. A couples counselor may ask partners to determine what problems they are facing. Couples counselors may instruct each partner to describe their underlying emotions, experiences, and beliefs in detail. This process may be performed with both partners in the same room or just one at a time. The goal of this exercise is for partners to gain greater understanding of each other's needs and to create solutions for these needs to be met. For example, a couple may arrive at the conclusion that one partner's work schedule leads the other to feel neglected or overwhelmed. Then, couples might implement strategies such as increased communication and partner agreements. These strategies may address previous conflicts as well as prevent new ones from occurring.

In some instances, couples counselors may recommend individual therapy for one or both partners. Individual therapy can address mental health problems that negatively impact the relationship. With continued counseling, people can restore communication and may gain greater understanding of one another's needs, enabling them to better develop solutions for these needs to be properly met.

Closely related to family therapy, couples therapy is a type of counseling that seeks to help couples improve their relationship. A therapist may teach each partner in the relationship specific skills, such as managing or expressing their emotions, conflict resolution, communication skills, and problem solving. Both people in the couple need to be committed to learning new skills themselves as well as putting effort into supporting the relationship. The typical goals of couples therapy are to decrease conflict, unhappiness, and resentment, as well as increase communication, intimacy, and connection.

Couples therapy may be offered privately, at a university, or in a group practice. It is usually short-term therapy, lasting a few weeks until the participants have learned new skills and have the ability to repair their relationship. Its effectiveness depends on the willingness of both participants to commit to therapy and make the relationship a priority. For many couples it can be extremely helpful.

We don't yet know what causes depression, but it's thought that it is a combination of genetic, biological, environmental, and social influences. Because of this, the most effective treatments for depression combine medication with psychotherapy. Therapy, especially cognitive-behavioral therapy, can be extremely helpful in resolving the negative thoughts and feelings that come with depression. It gives patients new tools that they can use themselves to cope when their depression is making them feel down.

Some of the common medications used to treat depression include antidepressants such as SSRI's (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft) or atypical antidepressants (Cymbalta, Wellbutrin). It's important to remember that these medications have different effects on everybody, and no one medication works right for everyone. Patients may have to try a couple before finding the one that works just right for them. If the first medication they try doesn't work, they should talk to their doctor about trying something else. In extreme cases where medication is not enough, electro-convulsive therapy and hospitalization may be the answer to keeping a severely depressed person safe.

Depression is a difficult illness to deal with, but it is more common than believed and there are many people who can help. With the right treatment, individuals with depression can get back to fully enjoying life again.