Discernment Counseling

DISCERNMENT COUNSELING FOR COUPLES

Hello. I have gone through the training to be a Certified Discernment Counselor. If you or your spouse are considering divorce but are not completely sure that’s the best path, you are in a tough spot. And Discernment Counseling is designed for you. It’s a chance to slowdown, take a breath, and look at your options for your marriage. It is a specific approach that I have received specialized training in that can help you both experience clarity in the direction you would want want to take regarding your marriage.

Discernment Counseling is a new way of helping couples where one person is “leaning out” of the relationship—and not sure that regular marriage counseling would help–and the other is “leaning in”—that is, interested in rebuilding the marriage.

I will help you decide whether to try to restore your marriage to health, move towards divorce, or take a time out and decide later.

The goal is for you to gain clarity and confidence about a direction, based on a deeper understanding of your relationship and its possibilities for the future. The goal is not to solve your marital problems but to see if they are solvable.

You will each be treated with compassion and respect no matter how you are feeling about your marriage at the moment. No bad guys and good guys.

You will come in as a couple but the most important work occurs in the one-to-one conversations with the counselor. Why? Because you are starting out in different places.

Although I am a hope-filled therapist, I respect your reasons for divorce while trying to open up the possibility of restoring the marriage to health.

I emphasize the importance of each of you seeing your own contributions to the problems and patterns and your individualized path to possible solutions. This process can be informative and transformative and will be useful in future relationships even if this one ends.