Treating Depression With Couples Therapy Increases Significant other Satisfaction

[Asad shaikh]

Depression is one of the most common mental health problems people face today. When stress levels increase, dealing things fail, the mind decides to withdraw completely into numbness. Depression used to be treated with a combination of drug and individual therapy. Couples therapy is demonstrating to be very successful in treating depression. I want to look at the advantages of couples versus individual therapy for depression.

While researching the efficacy of couples therapy with depression, researchers came up with surprise result. During couples therapy, while the symptoms of depression removed from the 'patients', the partners offered help to become depressed. relatietherapie online As the sessions continued the partners retrieved as well. In the follow up the couples expressed increased significant other satisfaction not only is it without any depressive symptoms.

Anna was diagnosed with depression and her DOCTOR referred them for couples therapy. When her husband John was invited for sessions at first he was baffled. He felt attributed in some way. The partners approach defensively until they realise there is something positive in it for them too.

Anna could recognise and express her needs and feelings in the therapy. John discovered new dimensions about Anna even though they've been married for 26 years. Her inability to assert herself was explored. Her father was a chaotic man who could not handle any extreme feeling. Anna was encouraged to take responsibility for her needs. At the same time John awakened to the fact how his anxiety about not being good enough for her turned him into an oppressive man. This became the purpose John became depressed for a while. Over time Anna could reassure him of her love and commitment for him. This became the turning point of their therapy.

I believe couples therapy is a more honourable choice of treatment for depression. Problems arise in relationships and they are best resolved in relationships. If Anna was referred for individual therapy she would have worked on her capacity to express her needs, but John would not be have been able to sound right of her changes and might have been even more vulnerable and more hard to follow and angry as a result. With couples therapy, however, both John and Anna had some insight into how they have been relating to one another. These were also able to use the safety of the therapy context to switch old patterns with an increase of fulfilling ones.

So John was not the reason of her depression. Their past experiences, fears and how they related to one another was the main reason. Couples therapy works as a prompt that brings forth the difficulties in a relationship and then, as they are worked through, it brings couples nearer.

Sharing difficult times, being vulnerable with each other, expressing the effect of past wounds on the present during therapy increase the couples' intimacy and as a result significant other fulfilment. I strongly advise couples therapy if one partner suffers from depression, this is an opportunity for increased well-being for both parties in the relationship.