In couples therapy and marriage counseling, couples examine what made their relationship good in the beginning. Over time, with life's stressors, couples lose sight of each other as a couple and disconnect. Some partners protest this lack of connection through arguing and anger. Others protest with withdrawal and silence. An important goal of couples therapy and marriage counseling is to explore these communication styles and aim communication and actions toward re-connecting.
Sometimes past couple issues emerge as the reason for the disconnect. Sometimes a person's past and unresolved issues before the couple met creates the disconnect. Together the therapist and the couple work at resolving the "unfinished business" so the couple can once again connect.
Couples therapy includes at least one individual session with the therapist for each member of the couple to express private thoughts and feelings. The content of the individual sessions is held in complete confidence by the therapist and never repeated in the couples sessions.