Discernment Counselling
If you're going through a very difficult time in your relationship and beginning to think about separation, it can be worth pausing before making any final decisions. Taking time to explore how you reached this point, and gaining genuine clarity, can make all the difference.
That clarity can lead you to one of three paths:
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Move forward with separation, with a settled sense of peace and understanding.
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Put separation on hold for six months and work on the relationship in couple therapy, with the aim of breaking the patterns that brought you here.
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Continue in the relationship, having reached a deeper understanding and a renewed sense of commitment.
What are the benefits?
Discernment counselling helps you gain insight into both your individual and shared contributions to the difficulties in your relationship. It slows things down enough to prevent decisions made in haste that you might later regret, while also honouring the fact that both partners may be in very different emotional places.
It is particularly suited to what are sometimes called "mixed-agenda" couples, where one partner is uncertain about the future of the relationship, while the other is invested in saving it. The process respects both people's needs, concerns, and desires throughout.
How does it work?
The first session is a joint session. This is followed by two individual sessions, one with each partner. Depending on what emerges, further individual sessions or a joint session may then be suggested, to support you in reaching greater clarity.