Mar 5, 2025
Couples therapy is a proven way to work through relationship issues, strengthen your relationship, and prepare for the future. Couples therapy is for anyone, whether you’re struggling with your relationship or not. It can be hard to know when to go to couples therapy. When should you tough it out and when should you seek help?
Ultimately, it’s up to you. Couples therapy isn’t just a last resort; it can be used to strengthen and prepare the relationship for future events like marriage, having a child, moving, or anything else life may throw at you. A good couples therapist will assess your needs and provide support as necessary.
This article will go over 10 signs you need couples therapy and how to find a couples therapist that’s right for you.
10 Signs You Should Go to Couples Therapy
This list is not conclusive. Couples therapy is a good starting point for identifying problem areas in your relationship and seeking to heal them, so if you feel like something is off, couples therapy is a good place to start.
- Communication Issues: If communication between you and your partner has become strained, filled with arguments, or you feel like you're constantly misunderstood, couples therapy can help improve your communication skills and reconnect on a deeper level.
- Constant Conflict: If you find yourselves stuck in a cycle of repetitive arguments or unresolved conflicts that never seem to get resolved, seeking couples therapy can provide you with tools to address and resolve these issues effectively.
- Lack of Intimacy: When emotional or physical intimacy in the relationship begins to dwindle, couples therapy can help you explore the root causes of this issue and rediscover closeness and connection with your partner.
- Trust Issues: If trust has been broken in your relationship, whether due to infidelity, betrayal, or other reasons, couples therapy can assist in rebuilding trust and creating a foundation of honesty and openness.
- Different Goals: If you and your partner have diverging goals or values that are causing tension in the relationship, couples therapy can help you navigate these differences and find common ground to move forward together.
- Parenting Conflicts: When disagreements arise around parenting styles, discipline, or decisions regarding children, couples therapy can provide a space to address these conflicts and create a unified approach to parenting.
- Feeling Disconnected: If you feel emotionally disconnected from your partner, distant, or like you're living parallel lives, couples therapy can help you reconnect emotionally and foster a deeper bond.
- Pre-Marital Counseling: If you're planning to get married, pre-marital counseling can provide you with valuable tools to navigate challenges, communicate effectively, and build a strong foundation for your future together.
- One-Sided Effort: If one partner feels like they are putting in more effort into the relationship than the other, couples therapy can help address this imbalance and encourage both partners to actively participate in nurturing the relationship.
- Considering Separation: If you or your partner have mentioned separation or divorce, couples therapy can be a valuable opportunity to explore underlying issues, understand each other's perspectives, and work towards rebuilding the relationship.
Remember, seeking couples therapy is a proactive step towards strengthening your relationship and creating a healthy, fulfilling partnership. A skilled therapist can guide you in navigating challenges, fostering open communication, and building a stronger connection with your partner.
Can Couples Therapy be Online?
Yes. Online therapy has grown in popularity since the pandemic, when many therapy offices had to close. Nowadays, online therapy is a convenient, affordable option for couples therapy.
With online couples therapy, you and your partner don’t have to be in the same room. You can log on to a secure video conference call with your partner and your therapist. This means you can have consistent therapy when you are traveling, during your lunch breaks, or during a busy day. As long as you have a stable internet connection and privacy, you can have the benefits of couples counseling.
What Should Someone Look for in an Online Couples Therapy Platform?
Finding a good couples therapist is important. You want to find someone you both feel safe and comfortable around, and who can manage conflict well. It’s also important to ask a couples therapist what their experience and specialty are before beginning sessions.
Jennifer Sims, a couples therapy here at Lifebulb, says this about finding the right couples therapist for you:
“Many therapists claim to have knowledge in [couples therapy], but not necessarily specialize in it. For example, some highly qualified couples counselors will provide a testing and assessment option to couples prior to their initial session to see how well both partners match in several life domains and then this will be reviewed at the time of their first session.There are several different types of couples counseling, such as a Gottman approach or emotionally focused couples counseling. You want to do some research on the type of approach you are looking for before picking your couples' counselor. Not every counselor has training in both. If you want to make sure you know the therapist has a specialization in this type of therapy you might choose a person who has an LMFT which is a very specialized type of license for marriage and family counseling.”
LMFT stands for Licensed marriage and family therapist. These are therapists that received education and specialized training in couples therapy. It is possible to receive quality couples therapy from other types of therapists, such as LPCs or LCSWs, but if you want highly specialized and experienced therapists, LMFTs are a good choice.
The Gottman Method and emotionally focused couples counseling are both evidence-based treatments couple therapists will use.
What Are Some Red Flags in an Online Couples Therapy Platform?
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According to Jennifer Sims, a couples therapist here at Lifebulb, some red flags to watch out for in an online couples therapist include:
- Lack of comfort in a counselor's ability to structure the session
- It’s not a private space
- A lack of boundaries from the therapist
- Inability to maintain balance during the session.
Jennifer says, “It is very important that the therapist you choose knows how to maintain healthy boundaries and keep the session focused on the goals of the couple as well as ensure both partners are able to communicate effectively and appropriately with one another during the session time.”
Schedule Your Couples Therapy Session today
Don’t let resentment, hurt, or mistrust continue to breed in your relationship. Talking with a couples therapist is the first important step in healing and strengthening your relationship.
Lifebulb has online licensed couples therapists who are available today. Contact our support team or browse our list of therapists to find the right fit for you.
