Discernment Counseling Assessments
If you or your spouse are considering divorce or separation but are not completely sure that’s the best path, you are in a tough spot. A discernment counseling assessment process is designed for you. The goal is for you to gain clarity and confidence toward a direction, based on a deeper understanding of your relationship and its possibilities for the future.
WHEN YOUR ON THE FENCE AND YOU'RE AFRAID TO MAKE THE WRONG DECISION
Discernment Counseling is a special way to work with couples that offers them a chance to slow down, take a breath, and look at your options for your marriage. It is a new way of helping couples where one person is “leaning out” of the relationship—and not sure that regular marriage counseling would help–and the other is “leaning in”—that is, interested in rebuilding the marriage.
I will help you decide whether to try to restore your marriage to health, move towards divorce or take a time out and decide later. The goal is for you to gain clarity and confidence toward a direction, based on a deeper understanding of your relationship and its possibilities for the future. The goal is not to solve your marital problems…but to see if they are solvable.
WHEN YOU'RE ON THE FENCE AND AFRAID TO MAKE THE WRONG DECISION
Integrating discernment counseling into an assessment and feedback process is a specialized way to work with couples that provides a chance to slow down, take a breath, and look at the options for the marriage. It’s a way of helping couples where one partner is “leaning out” of the marriage—and not sure that regular marriage counseling would help–and the other is “leaning in”—that is, interested in rebuilding the marriage.
Get guidance to decide whether to try to restore your marriage to health, move towards divorce or take a time out and decide later. The goal is for you to gain clarity and confidence toward a direction based on a deeper understanding of your relationship and its possibilities for the future. The goal is not to solve your marital problems…but to see if they are solvable and get recommendations about the next step.
NO GOOD GUYS OR BAD GUYS
You will each be treated with compassion and respect no matter how you are feeling about your marriage at the moment. No judgment about where you’re leaning. You’ll both have time to discuss the marriage jointly as a couple and in separate one-on-one sessions in order to provide a most comprehensive picture of the marriage and problems that have led you to the brink of divorce. Given you each might be in different places, I will respect your reasons for considering divorce while trying to open up the possibility of restoring the marriage to health. I will emphasize the significance of each of you seeing your own contributions to the problems and the possible solutions. This will be useful in future relationships even if this one ends.
I will help you gain clarity about a decision about your marriage, however, the ultimate decision is yours to make and I do not make a specific recommendation.
Read more about discernment counseling in my blog post Can This Marriage Be Saved?
IN-PERSON OR ONLINE DISCERNMENT COUNSELING COUPLES ASSESSMENTS
A discernment counseling assessment is a 4 session process involving both partners. They can effectively be conducted in-person in the Boca Raton office or online (from the same or different locations). These appointments can be scheduled all in the same week depending upon availability.
Session #1 – an initial joint session with both partners together (50 mins)
Session #2 & #3 – confidential one-on-one sessions with each partner separately (45 mins each)
Session #4 – a joint feedback session with both partners together (30 – 45 mins)
Note that discernment counseling assessments are not suited for these situations:
- When one spouse has already made a final decision to divorce or just wants a “closure session”
- When one spouse is coercing the other to participate
- When there is danger of domestic violence
- When one partner refuses to participate
DECIDING TO SEPARATE OR DIVORCE
Are you struggling to decide the future of your marriage? Did your spouse just ask for a divorce or separation? Are you thinking about divorce and not sure what to do? Learn more about an assessment process to help you both decide the path forward in making one of the most important decisions in your life.
