Marital and Premarital Therapy

When a couple is preparing for marriage, lots of issues and questions can crop up and lead to conflict. At Cherry Hill, we can help you come to agreements about your future together by leading discussions about finances, children, housing, faith, and more. We will also help you develop coping mechanisms to deal with stress leading up to the wedding day. Here are some theories and interventions we use to help prepare couples for marriage:

Disagreements are warranted in every relationship, but that doesn’t make them pleasant. If you feel as though you’re experiencing excessive fighting with your partner, the therapists at Cherry Hill can help. We’ll help you walk through feelings of stress, anxiety, and miscommunication that often lead to excessive fighting in relationships. Here are a few theories and interventions we use to calm disagreements between partners who are experiencing excessive fighting:

Almost all conflicts between partners involve communication problems. It’s very easy to misunderstand your partner, especially when juggling other stressors such as work, children, and other social relationships. At Cherry Hill, we can help you tackle communication problems in your relationship by identifying the factors that are contributing to the miscommunication, which can include stress, trauma, lack of insight, inaccurate assumptions, or secrecy. Here are some theories and interventions we use to help couples resolve their communication problems:

When a couple is dealing with an act of infidelity, one or both partners can feel confused and betrayed. Cheating means different things to different people, but we can help you get to the bottom of your feelings. If you’re experiencing feelings of confusion, stress, anger, sadness, and resentment as a result of an act of infidelity, you are not alone. We use many theories and interventions to help couples recover from infidelity at Cherry Hill, including:

If you are feeling controlled or manipulated by your partner, threatened, or physically harmed, you may be experiencing spousal abuse—but you are not alone. The therapists at Cherry Hill will help you and your partner understand the reasons for the abuse and how to maintain a healthy relationship in recovery. These are a few theories and interventions we use to tackle the issue of spousal abuse:

There are so many reasons that sexual dysfunction can arise in a relationship. Sexual dysfunction is often a physical reaction to a psychological issue such as stress, anxiety, depression, mistrust and lack of self-confidence. There are also underlying physical causes for sexual dysfunction. Whatever the issue, we at Cherry Hill can help you and your partner sort through the reasons why you may be experiencing sexual dysfunction in your relationship.

You are together, but feel so alone. There no longer seems to be a connection, let alone a spark. You are not even certain you love your partner. Or perhaps, you yearn for more, but your partner is unresponsive. You may be fantasizing, considering other options, other people. Relationships require work to keep them alive and growing. The stress of jobs and children leave little time for spontaneity, passion, recreation, sex or, most importantly, emotional connection. Cherry Hill Counseling has therapists who specialize in intimate couple relationships with training in therapy that restructures the emotional bond facilitating responsiveness and engagement.

Childhood and adult abuse has been discovered to impact entire societies and economies in never before realized devastation. Marriage is one of the institutions profoundly impacted by the scars and defenses abuse by others brings out in individuals. Dr Barshing’s book on abuse and marriage, Haunted Marriage, demonstrates the commitment of Cherry Hill counselors to helping untangle the defenses and day to day problems of couples whose marriages grapple with past and present abuse.

If you or someone you love has expressed concern about your drinking, drug, or other habits, the best thing you can do is talk to a professional. When dependence develops, relationships suffer, responsibilities get neglected and serious health issues can arise. At Cherry Hill, we can help you discuss this difficult topic and work together to find the underlying causes. We’ll use some of the following theories and interventions to determine why you may have a problem with addiction:

Coming to terms with relationship issues is never easy. If you’re considering divorce or separation, you may feel like you have exhausted all of your options to ‘make it work.’ At Cherry Hill, we acknowledge that sometimes separating is the best option for you, but we also want to help you work through all the issues that have led you to this place as well as help you face your impending separation or divorce in a healthy, connected way. Here are some theories and interventions we use for couples who are considering divorce or separation: