Many couples find the need for couples counseling in Chicagoland especially since the Covid-19 Pandemic has added extra stress to their relationships.
Why isn’t couples counseling in Chicagoland IL easy to afford?
The main reason couples counseling isn’t affordable is because many insurance companies don’t cover it. This means that you have to pay for it yourself and as most counselors charge at least $65 an hour, this can make it rather expensive for most couples to afford.
So how can you make relationship counseling in Illinois fit your budget?
Within any relationship, there are three things to consider – “you”, “me” and “us”. Whenever any issue affecting the relationship is analyzed, you may find it is a personal issue that can be dealt with more effectively via individual counseling rather than in couples counseling sessions.
For example, a common issue faced by many couples is “money”. Often member of the couple doesn’t want to discuss money in any depth or has trouble managing it.
The mere mention of money and finances, budgets and so on triggers a lot of stress and anxiety in many people. No wonder so many people have trouble communicating clearly about it.
Although couples therapy isn’t covered by insurance, the treatment of “anxiety” generally is. And Generalized Anxiety Disorder isn’t something that will go on your medical record as a major condition (i.e. something that could potentially cause your health premiums to increase).
By learning how to manage anxiety, your therapist can help you look at your history with money. You will find ways to be more responsible and balanced in your handling and discussions about it. This can then help you to be more honest about money and to communicate more clearly with your other half about it.
You may like to have one couples counseling session to discover the major issues causing tension in your relationship, and then to follow it up by each of your having individual counseling sessions which are covered by your insurance.
What other couples counseling issues can often be more effectively addressed by individual counseling?
There are a number of relationship issues that can be helped by individual counseling:
- when one partner gets annoyed by their partner turning up late for meetings, this can be addressed by them learning time management skills
- when arguments become very heated and perhaps even aggressive, each partner can benefit by learning anger management skills
- often a major change such as moving for work can place a lot of stress on the relationship as new friends have to be made etc, but this be addressed via individual counseling for what is termed “adjustment disorder”.
What can help a lot of relationships?
Research has shown that you will be less likely to get jokes if you haven’t slept well. You will also be more likely to become annoyed by small things. So that is why it’s vital to be well-rested.
Most people need eight hours a day of sleep (or more). If you think you need less, try going a day without any caffeine and see how your body feels.
Your therapist can help you both (individually) work on your routine so you can improve your sleep hygiene. It can help to identify your “chronotype” (your inner biological clock) and to adjust your routine according to your chronotype. See The Power Of When to find out more about chronotypes and to find out which one you are.
Even just simple things like daily routine and sleep can have huge ramifications on your success as a couple.
So schedule the individual counseling you both need and also some couples counseling as well
Hopefully this advice will help you to make your relationship stronger by providing you with affordable couples counseling. These suggestions apply whether you are a conventional couple or if you are a same gender couple or trans-gender couple. Schedule an appointment today and get the help you need.