IS YOUR MARRIAGE ON THE BRINK? IS DIVORCE ON THE TABLE?
If you and your spouse are trying to decide about the future of your marriage, discernment counseling has been designed for you. It’s a chance to slow down, take a breath, look at your options for your marriage, and decide on a path.
Discernment counseling is a new approach for couples who are questioning their commitment, or for couples in which one person is unsure and the other is committed. It is a vital first step before considering couples therapy if one partner is not sure about continuing the marriage and working on improving it.
In this short-term process, the counselor will help you decide whether to try to restore your marriage to health, move toward 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 respect and compassion no matter how you are feeling about your marriage. No bad guys and no good guys.
Over 5 – 6 sessions you will come in as a couple and as individuals. Both of you will explore your reasons for the direction you each wish to take and your personal contributions to the problems and the possible solutions. You will deeply explore path one- holding still; path two-moving towards divorce; and path 3- committing to work on restoring health to your marriage for a 6 month time period.
Sessions will be 1- 1.5 hours with typically no more than five sessions.
This is currently offered through virtual online therapy or in person at the East Syracuse or Rome offices depending on scheduling.
Discernment Counseling is not suited for:
- When one spouse has made the final decision to divorce.
- When one spouse is coercing the other to attend.
- When there is danger of domestic violence.
If you’d like to become a client, please click the “Request an Appointment” button at the top of this page.