The 4 reasons to go to brief couples therapy

When communication as a couple seems to be difficult or even no solution can be seen; couples therapy comes to the rescue as one of the most effective treatment options to identify and resolve what causes conflict, distance and rejection.

brief couples therapy is one of the couples therapy approaches that is applied to help those who, while dating or married, feel that the relationship is going through a stage of crisis, either due to the worsening of that bond or due to the stagnation of this. Now, this type of couples therapy has several characteristics and advantages that it is useful to know; let's see what they are.

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What is Systemic Brief Therapy?

Systemic Brief Therapy is a form of psychological intervention developed by Palo Alto Mental Research Institute in the 70s, and which is applied both to individual patients and to couples, families and teams of job.

As its name indicates, this therapeutic approach It is based on the principles of Systems Theory.

, and that is why it does not focus on understanding the problems or needs to be covered as elements isolated and singular, but as the result of an interaction of dynamic elements in constant motion. In the same way, it also has its roots in the theory of cybernetics, and that is why it attaches great importance to the transmission of information.

On the other hand, Brief Systemic Therapy intervenes on the problem as it is expressed in the present moment, assuming that it is not the sequel of something that happened in the past, but a reality that is underway in the here and now. It is for this reason, in part, that can lead to very positive results in less time than other forms of psychotherapy.

In Brief Systemic Therapy for couples, strategies are applied to transform the interaction between both people making, in turn, that both can have a more global vision of their role within the relationship and the point of view of the other. What it is about in these cases is to ensure that, by modifying the patterns of interaction between people, they see beyond the perspective dysfunctional, rigid and limited to which they had been clinging, realizing that they are part of a relationship that transcends them as individuals.

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The benefits of brief couples therapy

These are the main beneficial aspects of brief therapy in couples therapy.

1. Prevent one of the members from feeling all the pressure

Although all forms of couples therapy seek to make one of the members of the courtship or marriage feel very under more pressure to change than the other, this is especially easy in brief couples therapy, since, as we have seen, here we intervene not in individuals, but in interactions.

2. Generate positive results in a short time

As we have seen, brief couples therapy is designed to last relatively little; It takes place in a few sessions. Thanks to this, Problems and conflicts are resolved in a matter of weeks, something that contributes to generating that experience of opening a new cycle for the relationship.

3. It is more motivating

As the results come quickly, this serves as a source of motivation for both members of the couple to get involved in the change process and don't fall into the trap of leaving therapy early (which would cause all the progress made to be lost).

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4. Generate mutual support dynamics

As the relationship is intervened and change is encouraged in two people at the same time, in this process it is achieved that one supports the other and vice versa, something that makes the transition to this new way of living and loving each other easier.

Sometimes it becomes common to pay more attention to the bad than to the good. It helps enormously to learn from the dysfunctional forms of couple interaction to understand it and begin to focus improvements through small changes.

In the couple relationship; Brief Therapy provides practical solutions; focusing on balance and strengthening the sense of reciprocity in the relationship.

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How do some couples come to this modality of therapy?

More and more couples are opting for brief therapy, and this is the case of "Sinha" and "Johary" who, when they went to care, had been sharing their lives for 12 years. They were going through a crisis due to situations that could not be communicated and that led to deterioration. The difficulty was focused on what personally each one expected and sometimes he came to demand or claim in a way that the other felt hurt. What used to be love now seems to be a fight between egos.

In recent years, communication had become increasingly scarce, when they spoke to each other, they did so in a way that was not pleasant for the other; coupled with this, confidence was severely damaged. On the verge of almost giving up, the moment arrives when Sinha maintains the idea of ​​not continuing in the relationship anymore, but Johary he wants to save their relationship and asks Sinha to look for alternatives, and after reviewing several options, they decide on the Brief Therapy of Couple.

From their first therapy session, they noticed changes that allowed them to release tension, feel understood, accept and tolerate; thus communication becomes more fluid and assertive. Therapy helps them to value and identify what unites them and what they seek to achieve both individually, who had been affected, and together.

Even though it is possible to visualize a relationship in which you enjoy being together; no therapeutic approach has magic solutions that solve everything that causes discomfort. There are situations in which the brief therapy approach raises the possibility that it might be better to be apart; each allows considerate and kind communication that offers a better way out without causing more suffering. Why think of "badly together or badly apart"? We know that the possibility exists, either together or apart; Sometimes when this last option is displayed, it turns into solutions and many more things are rescued than initially expected.

Do you want to go to couples therapy?

If you are interested in starting a couples therapy process, I invite you to contact me and my team of professionals.

My name is Victor Fernando Perez LopezI have a degree in Psychology with a specialty in Brief Systemic Therapy from the Milton H. Erickson from Guadalajara, and from ENDI En Directo I offer psychological assistance and coaching.