COMTREA Marriage and Divorce Counseling

Marriage Problems

For married and premarital couples COMTREA provides counseling for those who chronically fight or argue futilely, withdraw during arguments, or have stopped communicating altogether. Our trained staff deal with a wide variety of problems including alienation, diminished affection, loss of intimacy, and lack of togetherness. We help couples tackle longstanding nagging problems, including in-laws, sex, roles, responsibility, commitment, and money, as well as crisis situations such as infidelity or threat of separation or divorce. Staff are very experienced with, and sensitive to, issues that involve differences in religion, race, ethnicity, culture, values, lack of respect, and anger management.

Marriage counseling is an educational experience that emphasizes self-exploration, self-revelation, and the acquisition of interactive skills, which promote mutual understanding, recognition, and appreciation of one's partner. Other goals include learning, developing, and practicing in session with staff and at-home techniques for constructive communication and conflict-resolution for long-term marital harmony. This approach equips you and your partner with lifetime tools that will enable you to honestly and effectively confront and resolve whatever problems may arise in the future.

Divorce

Divorcing couples agree change is the major theme of divorce. Divorce changes our lifestyle, changes our roles, changes our friendship circles, changes the meaning of the world. When couples have tried all they could to save a marriage and failed, the losses and changes they experience can be overwhelming. It is a time of significant stress for all family members emotionally, physically, financially, and spiritually.

The major goal of this program is to stimulate personal growth by preparing one for the new role as a single or separated person and by creative problem solving regarding the many changes that occur in lifestyles after separation, such as raising children in a single-parent household, loss of social support from friends, and loss of emotional support from the former spouse. When a couple agrees to work together untangling the mystery of their lives together, they offer an invaluable gift of cooperation and a new kind of love. In most cases, however, divorce counseling is done individually.

Learning about how our interactions with family and friends, and their treatment of us, have molded our roles, patterns, rules, goals, and beliefs better prepare us for a brighter future. This rite of passage can turn crisis into opportunity, pain into healing, failure into success next time around.

Mediation

Selected COMTREA therapists have been extensively trained in Divorce Mediation. Referrals are made when parents cannot agree upon child-custody, visitation, or child-support. If parents qualify, up to four hours of mediation may be paid for through available grants.

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Counseling for Individuals and Families Since 1974