Do Marriage Counselors Do More Harm Than Good?
Before you begin screening marriage counselors to help you save
your marriage, you MUST consider the potential drawbacks of
marriage counseling so you can get all your facts straight
FIRST. This article will help you avoid making a costly mistake
that could not only set you back financially...but cost you your
marriage as well.
In July of 1999, at a conference for professional marriage
counselors, a credible marriage counselor by the name of Dr.
William J. Doherty, gave a shocking report on the state of
marriage counseling to his fellow professionals.
According to Doherty, most marriage counseling is HAZARDOUS, not
helpful to your marriage.
Therapy-based, American style marriage counseling (practiced by
most marriage counselors) can actually do more HARM than good in
your marriage.
All hope is NOT lost however, for the rising number of
struggling couples. There ARE more effective alternatives to
marriage counseling - they are so effective in fact that even
professional marriage counselors are admitting that couples need
MARRIAGE EDUCATION more than they do marriage therapy.
In June of 1999, USA Today reported that, "Even fans of marriage
counseling are saying disturbing things. Research shows that it
doesn't work as well as we once thought and it might not last."
That report reinforce the research that shows a great majority
of marriage counselors conducting therapy have had no formal
training at all.
This research further documented that two years after couples
went through marriage counseling, 25% of the couples were WORSE
OFF than before they started the therapy.
Up to 38% of them actually divorced.
Perhaps what's even more shocking is the fact that therapists
who actually work with COUPLES, are in the minority.
80% of all private practice marriage counselors in the U.S. say
they conduct marriage therapy, yet only 12% are in a profession
that requires them to take EVEN ONE course on dealing with
couples.
If you ask marriage counselors about their approach, the vast
majority will tell you that they find working with individuals
much more "productive" than working with couples.
Dr. William J. Doherty stated, "Couples therapy is the most
difficult therapy of all because every session starts with the
threat of divorce".
After training marriage counselors for a living, in his 1999
address at the conference for professional marriage counselors,
Dr. Doherty called the methods of marriage counselors,
"Hazardous to your marital health."
He established four ways that marriage counselors have produced
DESTRUCTIVE outcomes in marriages.
According to Doherty, there are four ways marriage counselors
can do more harm than good in your marriage...
1. By being incompetent
2. By being neutral
3. By pathologizing (telling you why your marriage is "sick")
4. By being overtly undermining (attempting to break up the
marriage)
INCOMPETENT: In the case of incompetent marriage counselors, the
counselor has not been trained to work with couples together.
They believe working with two people is an expanded version of
working with one, but it is not. An individual is easy to listen
to, but a battling couple is not. Working with couples requires
skill, structure and a very different approach than one-on-one
therapy.
NEUTRAL: These marriage counselors, Doherty claims, are not
neutral about marriage at all. When a counselor appears to be
neutral, but actually takes sides with the more self-oriented
spouse, they are undermining the marriage. "When a counselor
uses the language of individual self interests, it undercuts the
moral commitment that is owed to the marriage." Doherty stated.
PATHOLOGIZING: Pathologizing is when marriage counselors build a
case insisting that the couple has a "sick" relationship. They
actually ENCOURAGE couples to get a divorce by saying things
like, "Why SHOULD YOU hang in there? Why be a victim?" These
marriage counselors make couples believe that they're being
abused, which causes both spouses to draw their only conclusion:
"If the professional thinks this is over, then I should too."
UNDERMINING: While telling couples what they should do is
against the code of ethics of the American Association for
Marriage and Family Therapy, many therapists still do it. These
therapists say phrases like, "You should probably end this
marriage." or, "If you're going to stay sane, you should move
out." Undermining therapists urge husbands and wives to sever
their relationships with family members and spouses.
If you're looking for a good marriage counselor, Dr. Doherty
urges you to ask questions first. Learn about the therapists'
values by asking questions like these:
1. Are you self taught, workshop-trained or college educated in
working with couples?
Bad Answer: College educated.
Good Answer: Self taught or workshop trained and they speak
convincingly about how their program saves marriages.
2. What is your attitude about saving a troubled marriage vs.
helping a couple break up?
Bad Answer: "It's not my decision. Couples have to make their
own decision." (This is an evasive answer...not a good sign.)
Good Answer: "I help couples find ways to stay together and help
them understand and overcome their problems."
3. Where do you stand when one spouse wants to stay and the
other wants a divorce?
Bad Answer: "I try to get people to understand their own
feelings." (This is a focus on the individual, NOT the couple.)
Good Answer: "This is normally what I see with couples. I have
ways to help them both handle this in positive ways."
4. What percentage of your practice involves both husband and
wife?
Bad Answer: "I find working with husbands and wives individually
to be more practical."
Good Answer: "All of it. When both people are with me and
following my process, I find they have the greatest success
rate."
5. Of all the couples you treat, what percentage stay married
and have a better marriage in the end?
Bad Answer: "100%" or "I don't keep that type of information."
Good Answer: About 70 to 80% stay happily married, while the
rest drop out of my process and are unwilling to finish.
The difference in the answers you receive from marriage
counselors is the feeling you get when you talk with them. Bad
answers feel evasive or vague while good answers are confident
and positive.
Now that you know the right questions to ask, you can
confidently screen marriage counselors, separating the GOOD from
the bad. But if you're hesitant about bringing a marriage
counselor into your marriage, as Dr. Doherty suggested, marriage
education might be the answer you're looking for.