Why Discernment Counseling for Couples?

 In couples therapy, the focus is often on committed partners seeking to strengthen their relationship. However, a significant demographic is frequently overlooked: couples teetering on the brink of divorce, where one partner is uncertain about the future of the marriage. As Elizabeth Doherty Thomas, Co-founder of the Doherty Relationship Institute, asserts, it's essential to acknowledge and address the needs of these individuals through Discernment Counseling.

Discernment Counseling fills a crucial gap in traditional couples therapy by catering to couples facing uncertainty and potential dissolution. Unlike conventional therapy, which assumes both partners are committed to working on the relationship, Discernment Counseling recognizes the complexity of situations where one partner is leaning out of the marriage while the other seeks reconciliation.

What makes Discernment Counseling work?

At the heart of Discernment Counseling lies a research-based model explicitly tailored for couples grappling with uncertainty. While conventional therapy may exclude such individuals due to their lack of total commitment, Discernment Counseling embraces them, offering a short-term, one to five-session protocol designed to navigate the complexities of their situation

Why do other therapy models exclude this specific high need demographic?

One might wonder: why these couples aren't included in standard research or therapy protocols. The answer lies in the specialized nature of Discernment Counseling, which focuses on a distinct subset of relationships in crisis. Rather than criticizing the omission of these couples from traditional therapy models, Discernment Counseling acknowledges their unique needs and provides a targeted approach to address them effectively.