The first responsibility of love is to listen to your partner.

Focusing on the healthy areas of a relationship in couples counseling.

Are you able to identify those areas in your marriage and relationship that are healthy?

Couples and families come to counseling with a strong desire to change those aspects in their relationship that are creating emotional pain and conflict. It is easy for people to focus and be hypersensitive to those issues in the relationship that are troublesome and viewed as not working.

Partners, spouses and other family members are often quick to tell their loved ones what they need to change. In couples and family therapy, counselors will sometimes redirect clients to those areas and parts of the relationship that are healthy and working well. This approach helps to highlight those positive areas in the relationship and help clients to feel more optimistic and encouraged that the relationship can change during the therapy process. One significant and sensitive concern in every marriage and relationship is money.

How do you manage the money and finances in your marriage and family?

Finances and money have long been identified and understood to be a source of great stress and anxiety in a relationship. Everyone needs money and it is necessary and vital to our survival. Without money, we will be homeless, hungry and have more serious health issues. A couple with a healthy economic relationship will make money decisions together and not place or surrender those decisions to one partner. Couples will openly disclose and have complete transparency with all of their money and assets. Some couples place all of their income and investments into joint accounts. Each partner has access to those assets and the couple shares the responsibility in making financial decisions. This approach of joint responsibility and transparency ensures both partners benefit from all financial arrangements. If there are separate accounts, investments and individual retirement accounts within the relationship, couples should share financial information with their partners. Any changes with the assets should be discussed with their partner. This transparency helps to make the individual, who is not listed as the owner of the assets, feel protected valued and respected and not excluded from this part of their partner’s life. The more a couple shares their assets and demonstrate a strong mutual partnership with finances, the healthier the relationship will be.

In future blogs, I will write about other important areas of relationships such as intimacy, parenting, and extended families.

The first responsibility of love is to listen to your partner.

Robert Watts Counseling is located in Pennington NJ and offers safe in-office visit as well as online via Google Meet.

Focusing on the healthy areas of a relationship in couples counseling. Contents

Blog Categories
subscribe to receive notifications when new posts are published
Recommended Reading
Relationship Essentials: The Simple Tools and New Perspective You need to Improve Your Intimate Relationship. Meredith Keller, MA, LPC, ACS
Relationship Essentials, Meredith Keller

Relationship Essentials: The Simple Tools and New Perspective You need to Improve Your Intimate Relationship, by Meredith Keller, MA, LPC, ACS, is a must-read for couples struggling in their relationships.

paperback Comfortable with Uncertainty
Comfortable with Uncertainty

Comfortable with Uncertainty offers short, stand-alone readings designed to help us cultivate compassion and awareness amid the challenges of daily living. More than a collection of thoughts for the day, Comfortable with Uncertainty offers a progressive program of spiritual study, leading the reader through essential concepts, themes, and practices on the Buddhist path.

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family

The heartrending story of a midcentury American family with twelve children, six of them diagnosed with schizophrenia, that became science’s great hope in the quest to understand the disease.

“Reads like a medical detective journey and sheds light on a topic so many of us face: mental illness.” —Oprah Winfrey

More Posts & Support…
What We Can Learn From Our Anxiety When We Try
3 Things We Can Learn From Our Anxiety

When we learn about how our anxiety is triggered, we can be more mindful and more empowered to not only overcome our anxiety, but learn how it can be a useful teacher.

reducing anxiety through breathing
Reducing anxiety through breathing

Breathing is a necessity of life that usually occurs without much thought or awareness that we are breathing. Being mindful of your breathing will help reduce anxiety.

Depression and Anxiety
Depression and Anxiety

Anxiety and Depression often go hand-in-hand. The first step in treating depression is for you to recognize the signs. And procrastination and avoidance are leading indicators for diagnosing anxiety.

Relationship Challenges

All couples and families have issues which impact their joy and create relational conflict. Very often one individual within the couple or family is viewed as being the problem in the relationship.  Bob helps couples and families to change their individualistic view of the challenges and create a more systemic understanding.

You Are Not Alone…

As a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor and EAP provider, Bob has more than 20 years of experience in guiding individuals on their journey of recovery. He believes that all individuals, during their journey through life, encounter challenges that impact their relationships and quality of life.

Professional Consultation

The first step will be to understand where you are coming from, and where you want, or need, to go. Let’s gather your information so that Bob can review and set up a Courtesy Consultation. This will take just a few minutes of your time, and will help Bob with a clear understanding of what is currently going on with you.

Breath In This Moment and
Exhale With Gratitude