Discernment Counseling is NOT marriage counseling. This is a short-term process to help you decide what you and your partner want to do.
Often we find that couples coming in for help have one person in the marriage who has been thinking about divorce and seems to have one foot out the door. The other partner feels the tension and continues to try to pursue the other, only to push their partner further away.
There is a clear distinction between Discernment Counseling and couple’s therapy. Discernment Counseling is short-term with 1 – 5 weekly sessions.
- Session are 2 hours
- Both partners come for all sessions
- Every session consists of three parts:
- Couples meet together with the counselor
- Then each person meets for a short time individually with the counselor while the other waits in the waiting room
- Finally, the couple meets together with the counselor and each partner shares what they’ve learned in their session
- The focus is on decision making about three paths:
- Path One: Staying the marriage as it is
- Path Two: Deciding to separate or divorce
- Path Three: A six-month reconciliation period with an all-out effort in therapy with divorce off the table . . . and then making a decision about the long term future of the relationship
