DISCERNMENT COUNSELING NJ

Need Discernment Counseling? 

Stay Together or Separate? 

What is Discernment Counseling?

Discerment counseling is a type of counseling that offers disconnected , unhappy, and/or frustrated couples a safe space to discuss what makes sense in terms of the future of their relationship. Couples at a point asking “should we stay together or not” can benefit from discernemnt counseling. Some will decide to commit to therapy for a period of time to see if things can change for the better. Others might decide the best thing is to separate, divorce, or slit up. Typically it is a short term 4-5 session process that helps couples (married and sometimes coupled) decide on a the best path forward. In Discernment Counseling, your therapist will spend some time together with the couple as well as some individual sessions to gain and undestanding of each person’s feelings, experiences, and thoughts about realtionship to fully assess and assist the couple in the decision process.

Discernment Counseling

Helping You Discern the Best Path Forward

Should We Stay Together or split up?

Are you unhappy in your marriage? Are you and your spouse looking for a therapist to help you make some important decisions? Wonder if you should stay and work on marriage or figure out the best way of calling it quits and moving on?

Discernment counseling is a type of therapy couples do when they’re trying to decide whether they need to let go of the marriage. Most couples go to marriage counseling to deal with issues in the marriage and as hard as it’s been, both are committed to working on the relationship. Maybe they are looking to improve communication, find ways to get more connected and deal with conflict. Some men or women are feeling so frustrated, disappointed, sad or angry that divorce becomes a frequent topic. Usually one person has lost hope that things will even be different.

Why Discernment Counseling ?

Discernment counseling helps a couple figure out whether they can stay together or not. Some couples don’t discuss splitting up or divorce on their own and need a safe place to discuss difficult issues. The therapist can help you explore the relationship and where each person is at and why.

Most of the time a couple is not on the same page when it comes to wanting to split up, so it’s important to discern whether there’s anything they can do or if the couple is going to be taking the next step. Discernment counseling is a different approach to working with couples than marriage counseling. Couples sometimes meet up to five times but can stop whenever they feel like they’ve come to a decision.
Therapy will involve spending some time together and apart during appointments to discuss what the issues have been in the marriage (good and bad) and what you’ve done to work out your differences. And then there are discussions about staying in the marriage as it is, deciding to move in the direction of divorce or even trying to work with a marriage therapist for several months to see if there’s a way to repair the relationship and reconnect.

Is Discernment Counseling for You?

If there’s been infidelity or an affair, if communication has broken down, if you’re lonely in the relationship, if your feeling confused about whether to seek divorce or try to work it out, if you don’t know what to do, discernment counseling might be right for you.

Discernment Counseling is different from marriage counseling because it does not help you to work on your marriage. This type of counseling helps both partners figure out what to do: do we do marriage counseling to see if we can work things out or do we split up and divorce. Some couples will deside to stay together and commit to working ont he marriage or relationship for a period of time to see if they can change negative patterns and turn things around for the better. Others might decide it might be best to split up or separate.

When You’re Each On Different Pages: Discernment Counseling can help even if if one of you wants to work on things and the other wants to break up. Even if you want to reconcile and your spouse wants to divorce, Discernment Counseling can still help you talk about where you are at and help you make the best possible decisions. It can help you make informed decisions about your marriage.

DISCERNMENT COUNSELING : What do we do Next?

1. You can keep things status quo and do nothing

2. Take steps to divorce

3. Commit to intensive marriage counseling to see if you can work on issues that have lead you to such a bad place to see if the marriage can be saved.

DISCERNMENT COUNSELING Can Even Help Couples That Disagree:

• the therapist listens to both partners and not forcing any outcome
• this type of counseling assists couples dealing with conflict
• this is not marriage counseling

If you are trying to decide to work on your marriage or feeling like you may need to separate or divorce, discernment counseling may help you figure out the next step.