Not many experiences feel more painful than choosing to spend your life with another individual only to realize later you’re struggling to connect to them in a pleasant manner.

When you feel like your partner isn’t the person you fell in love with; when you feel like the communication gap between you widens every day; when it feels like your relationship is beyond help after discovering an affair… you may begin to feel that it’s too late to do anything to salvage and save the love you once shared.

However, since you’re reading this article, it’s likely you still care enough about your partner and your relationship to want to help it in any way you can. If so, your relationship is definitely worth saving, and should be given a chance to succeed.

Couples counseling and therapy can help you to rebuild the trust and intimacy you enjoyed at one time. Couples therapy can offer a secure place as well as skills and resources you’ll need to give your marriage the chance of success. Couples therapy can help you and your spouse:

Do away with endless quarrels

Sort out prior wounds and hurtful memories

Rise above parenting differences

Improve your intimacy and sex life

Heal from an affair

Grow closer together

Take an active, involved and interested role in the life you’ve created together

When thinking about couples counseling and therapy, it isn’t uncommon to question if visiting a marriage therapist will really be beneficial.

With this in mind, in recent years research has been undertaken to determine the effectiveness of couples therapy.

In an article posted by the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, clients of marriage and family therapists in 15 states described their experiences with couples counseling. The answers demonstrate that marriage and family therapists can safely and effectively address numerous couples difficulties in a fairly limited time frame and that patient outcomes and levels of satisfaction are quite substantial.

The vast majority of couples counselors would agree with the fact that a couple’s determination to make their relationship succeed is the most vital determinant of successful couples counseling. Even the best couples counselor is unlikely to rescue a relationship in which one partner has already decided to give up, and even an average couples counselor will likely benefit a couple who is utterly invested in doing the work necessary to make their relationship succeed.

What kind of couples benefit most from couples counseling? Besides those who are willing and eager to do whatever it takes, the answer appears to be relatively young, non-sexist couples who continue to be in love and are determined to be open and honest with one another.

Which couples obtain the least benefit from couples therapy? Couples counseling is less effective for couples who hold out excessively before looking for professional help, and where one partner has already decided to leave and is closed to any guidance that could help save the relationship.

That having been said, if you and your partner are serious about creating the best relationship possible, couples counseling and couples therapy can provide a safe space to explore your relationship, help you uncover and overcome the destructive patterns in your interactions with one another, and provide you communication tools and skills to restore trust, build intimacy, and rediscover the joy, surprise, and closeness in your relationship.

Learn more about couples counseling by visiting Martin Baker’s website: http://www.martinbaker.org.