Just like the medical field, counseling has grown into a field of specialties.
It is perfectly reasonable to ask about a therapist’s training and specialties before deciding on with whom to make an appointment.

How to Choose
a Marriage Counselor

You may be surprised to learn that a lot of counselors have received little training in treating couples. And yet they readily take on couples as clients. Buyer Beware.

My name is Brent Bradley, and I hold a PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy. Had I not been trained in this field, I wouldn’t know this either.

If you are considering couples counseling, it’s a very good idea to know what kind of training credentials potential counselors hold. Think about it: A lawyer from Harvard may be fantastic if you are facing court and need a lawyer. Not so good if you have a cavity though.

In the past the therapy field tended to throw individuals and couples under the heading of general “Therapy” or “Counseling”.

Not so anymore.

Treating two people in a love relationship, for example, is very different from seeing an individual.

In the old days people saw their general doctor for everything – colds, childbirth, tonsillitis – you name it. Try going to your general doctor now for childbirth. Probably won’t happen. S/he will refer you out to a specialist. That’s because as our knowledge has increased, the medical field has grown into a field of specialties. And so has the field of marriage counseling.

Keep These Tips in Mind
When Choosing a Counselor
1

Check out the counselor's website

See a counselor that identifies as mainly a “couple therapist”. If this isn’t prominent on their website - not just listed among many other areas of treatment - take note.
2

Find out their weekly percentage caseload

Find out what percentage of their current weekly caseload is made up of couples. If it’s fewer than 50%, I’d go elsewhere.
3

Inquire about their specialty training

Find out if they have received intensive advanced training in couple therapy apart from graduate school. That means after receiving their degrees. Marriage counselors often go to post-school weeklong trainings because they desire specialty training.
4

Is their counseling approach supported by research?

Find out if they use an empirically supported approach with couples. Currently Behavioral Therapy and Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy are the only two highly empirically supported couple treatment approaches.
We don't play the blame game.

Often, men are afraid that they will be blamed if they come to counseling. This is not the case at The Couple Zone. We take a relational perspective – which in everyday language is akin to “there are two sides to every story”. We assume that if we were in your shoes we would most likely be responding in very similar ways.

This is important: We do not blame either partner. If either of you are unsure, we ask that each of you commit to only one session initially. This allows you to get to know your counselor a little, let her/him get to know you, see if it feels right for each of you, and your counselor can see if he/she seems to be able to help you reach your goals.