Discussion: Sampling StructuresProbability and nonprobability are the two general categories of sampling. Probability sampling uses random selection, whereas nonprobability sampling does not. For exam

Social Work Research: Couples Counseling

Master of Social Work

Couples Counseling

For couples to be happy, they need both love and wisdom to work through times that are hard, even if it means seeking professional guidance. This is because counseling has so far proven to be a saving resource for some relationships. Couple counseling is also known as marriage therapy or marriage counseling when the two individuals seeking the counseling are married. There might be blowups between partners or there may be constant occurrence of sticky issues or irritating issues that lead to increased resentment and tension in the relationship. Therefore, the problem statement in this research proposal is that at least every intimate relationship experiences tough times and this needs wisdom both from within and from outside help so that the problem is figured out and settled peacefully.

Objectives of the study:

The study’s main objective is to establish, investigate, and determine the factors that affect couples and the proper way to approach such problems from a professional view. Other objectives include establishing the extent to which some marriages reach breaking point as well as determining the best applicable wisdom to save such relationships from the brink of breaking.

Research questions:

This study has several research questions and among them is, Does couple counseling work for unhappy couples? Should couples go to see a therapist in case of difficulties in a relationship? What are the major issues that cause breakups or divorce among marriage relationships? How can an individual treat his/her partner so that they minimize the rambles within their relationship?

Scope of the study:

It is important to note that third party is not an authoritative figure that needs to make one partner to understand the problem that is causing the relationship to be displeasing. However, the third party counselor acts as the mediator, a person who helps both of the individuals in a marriage to learn about the problem as well as assist them to solve it. He/she helps them learn better communication mechanisms in a relationship. It should further be noted that whether the couple counseling works or not, it heavily depends on the main factor of the relationship partners. The factor is the extent to which both partners strive to keep the marriage alive rather than fighting to escape from it. There needs to be some form of personal motivation from each of the partners so that the relationship works. This study is very important because it will help in unveiling the issues that affect most relationships and determine the major issues that lead to a breakup or a divorce. This then will be relevant in ascertaining the requirements from both partners to dedicate themselves to a certain extent to see if the problems can be solved, and whether they can settle down the issues by themselves or they have to seek help from a therapist. However, it should be noted that this study faces some limitations, including the confidentiality of thee couples who are not willing to reveal their inside issues. Some are not even willing to respond to the questions asked about the issues that face their relationship for fear of the social stigma even when there is an assurance that the issues being shared are confidential.

Literature review:

Jane (2013) puts it out clearly that the couples need to find therapists that they are confident with and to whom they can open up everything between them. The author emphasizes on the educational background of the therapist that they need to find, as well as the training and additional experience. The author used a statistics collected from the Wyoming community health center where it emerged that when the couples had assurance with the background details and experience of the therapist, they were confident in revealing out all the issues that affect them. There is a best emphasis, whereby if the couples belong to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), they need to seek guidance from a person who has experience and training in the LGBT community (Teddy, 2014).

About the expectations from therapists, Andrea Bonior (2017) comes up with a comprehensive study on what the couples need to expect from the therapist so that once they pay a visit, they should be fully aware of what help they will get. From his study, he asserts that when the couples pay a visit to the therapist, he/she reviews the process of counseling and she gets to know what the partners are as well as the problems that brought them there. The author is also supported by Golden & Frank (2014) in trying to convey a message to the couples that there will be a lot of questions asked so that he/she understands their lives and their relationship in the best possible way. This calls for both of the couples to feel free and comfortable in airing out everything asked so that they can receive the best possible counseling that suits their context.

The counseling process is properly stipulated by Stoltz-Loike (2012) who affirms that therapists do try to evaluate the relationship on several sessions the couples visit the clinic. The author uses scholarly sources on the counseling topic to assert his points in a more comprehensive way. For instance, there is an assertion that the counsellor will try to assess what keeps the couple together as well as what stresses the wellbeing of their relationship. There is also an addition of the evaluation of what exactly is the nature of the conflict, behavioral and communication patterns as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each couple. After noting this, the author still emphasizes on the issue of openness between the couples, the level of their frankness will determine how the therapist will understand them better and provide the best counseling possible to suit their problem.

One interesting article is the one posted by Christensen (2013) where he uses a statistical approach to answer the question as to whether couple counseling help in saving relationships that are about to die. The researcher has conducted this study by collecting data from several organizations that offer counseling services for couples within the New York State. The author also gives credit to the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy where he obtains a substantial amount of his statistical data and asserts that 97.1% of the clients surveyed received the exact services they needed. There is also a good assertion about the feedback of some of the clients who claimed that that the services they received were either good or excellent and these are given a percentage of about 98 (Newton, 2016). Therefore, the author is trying to bring out the point that couple counseling has had a positive impact to the lives of many couples who have received such services.

On the other hand, Karla (2013) uses journal statistics and the social network data where he obtains information and concludes that about 25% of the couples who receive therapy help were worse off within two years and by the end of 4 years, 39% of them had divorced. This consequently means that not all individuals that seek couple counseling help do survive. The author however does not mean to toss the couple counseling into a trash but rather comes up with other issues that could be leading cause to the failure of proper reconciliation between the couples and he brings out a clear point that this is an issue that needs to be tackled as early as possible. The therapy counseling needs to be among the first priorities when a problem arises among couples, however, when it is put as the last resort, when both couples have lost faith and respect to one another, there is a high likelihood that it will not work at all.

How the proposal addresses the gap in the existing knowledge:

This proposal aims at addressing the issues of confidentiality that have not been clearly addressed by other articles. It is apparent that some people don’t like revealing their personal secrets to other people, especially in front of their spouses. For instance, if a man had been cheating on his wife and she has had rumors about it, they start quarreling and eventually agree to seek help from a therapist. You cannot expect the man to be frank that he has been cheating on his wife in front of her especially when she has no evidence. Such issues like honesty during counseling are the major problems that this article seeks to address in the main research.

References

Andrea Bonior (2017). Should You Go to Couples Therapy? Psychology Today.

Christensen, D. N. (2013). Postmastectomy couple counseling: An outcome study of a structured treatment protocol. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 9(4), 266-275.

Golden, G. K., & Frank, P. B. (2014). When 50–50 isn't fair: The case against couple counseling in domestic abuse. Social Work, 39(6), 636-637.

Jane F. (2013). Couples and Marriage Counseling. Journal of Humanities and social sciences.

Karla, D. N. (2013). couple counseling: An outcome study of a structured treatment protocol. Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy, 9(4), 266-275.

Newton, C. R. (2016). Counseling the infertile couple. Infertility Counseling: A Comprehensive Handbook for Clinicians New York: Parthenon Publishing, 143-155.

Stoltz-Loike, M. (2012). Dual Career Couples: New Perspectives in Counseling.

Teddy D. (2014). Does Couple Counseling Work For Unhappy Couples?