DISCERNMENT COUNSELING

Choosing to engage in couples therapy can be an overwhelming decision, especially when your goals are unclear. Finding the right therapy for your goals and desired outcomes is important to your success, but if you and your partner aren’t clear on what those goals are, the process becomes significantly more complicated.

Couples Therapy is a wonderfully helpful process for those who are sure they want to work on a relationship, but what if you or your partner aren’t sure? Learning about and engaging in Discernment Counseling in Fairfax, Northern Virginia whether participating in person or virtually can help save you wasted time and energy.

Discernment Counseling and the Decision to Divorce

Discernment Counseling is a type of therapy designed for couples who are considering the possibility of separation or divorce, but are trying to determine if the relationship is worth one more shot. The goal of Discernment Counseling is to provide insight and clarity about which path couples should take in their marriage: continuing to deliberate, to separate, or to commit to couples therapy for a period of time.

Whether it be separation, divorce, or making a commitment to work on marital issues through marriage counseling, Discernment Counseling leads both parties to a feeling of confidence in their decision. Couples who have one partner “leaning in” while another is “leaning out” struggle in traditional couples counseling due to their disparate goals; Discernment Counseling is designed to correct this disparity.

What is The Difference Between Marriage Counseling and Discernment Counseling?

The process of Discernment Counseling differs from traditional couples counseling primarily in its goals. In traditional couples counseling, goals usually focus on improving the relationship – in Discernment Counseling, one party will start with uncertainty as to whether the relationship is truly what they want. Through the one-to-five session process, Discernment Counseling aims to provide clients with the clarity they need to move forward in a purposeful way.

Couples Counseling VS Discernment Counseling Goals and Outcomes

Discernment Counseling is a process that starts with a commitment to only one session. After the first session, partners in a relationship both get a choice to come back for up to four additional sessions – they should have a clear idea of their path forward by the end of Session Five. The process leads to one of three paths, below:

1. Remain in the relationship as it is, without any specific direction or purpose; i.e., nothing has changed.
2. Move purposefully toward separation and/or divorce. With this path, additional separation/divorce counseling is recommended, in order to minimize the negative fallout that is an all-too-often biproduct of the end of a relationship.
3. If both partners have gained clarity that they would like to work toward saving the relationship, Path Three is a commitment to six months of couples therapy, with the genuine intention of reconciliation.

Couples Counseling differs from Discernment Counseling in that both partners enter the process with matching goals of wanting to improve and/or save the relationship – the need for clarity of purpose is not needed.

Couples Counseling and Discernment Counseling from Fairfax, Northern Virginia

At Family Wellness Group, we’ve seen the countless issues that people experience when dealing with changes; in seeing that, we’ve come to learn that though there are commonalities to these situations, no two are the same. We are certified in discernment counseling and committed to providing therapy services to all ages and backgrounds. Contact us today to schedule an appointment virtually or in our Fairfax, Northern Virginia office!