Just because you discovered a means to combine your lives with someone and fell in love doesn’t guarantee that everything will go smoothly. Because any partnership consists of two individuals, each with their own thoughts, desires, and needs, there will inevitably be disagreements, obstacles to overcome, and issues to work through.
In This Extremely Rare Public Appearance, Julia Roberts and her husband Danny Moder are showing off their PDA.
There are many times when you need to involve a third party, someone who is trained in all the talking and listening that needs to be done, someone who can help you re-learn and re-tool how you navigate your life as a “us” — a couple’s counselor. Healthy communication skills and knowledge about how to fight correctly are extremely beneficial.
However, just like all forms of treatment, couple’s counseling can occasionally still have a stigma. We’re all firmly convinced that we should have magically entered this world and our relationships knowing how to conduct ourselves appropriately (which, no, categorically not – effective communication in partnerships isn’t pre-built in!). And since we might require that assistance, we frequently experience some sense of guilt or dread that we are completely failing at life and love. But rest assured that you are not weird or ineffective as a partner, lover, or spouse if you are attending couple’s counseling or considering it.
“Empirically oriented couples therapy has proved that couples therapy can make a positive shift for 70% of couples,” according to the Gottman Institute. Additionally, they mention that “the typical couple spends six years before seeking professional help for marital troubles” and that “just 19% of couples really seek out some sort of couples counseling and only 37% of divorced couples met with a professional prior to signing the papers.”
And it turns out that many of our favorite celebrity couples are very honest about their time spent in couple’s therapy. A number of them have described in enthusiastic and passionate detail how these sessions saved their relationships, brought them back from the verge of dissolution, or simply helped them learn some preventative communication skills for coping with the challenges life throws their way.
Continue reading to learn how some famous people felt about attending to couple’s therapy with their spouses. Who knows, though? Maybe you’ll decide that you and your partner should schedule a session with a reputable psychotherapist.
Dax Sheperd and Kristen Bell
Sheperd and Bell, another adored couple, have experienced ups and downs while juggling careers, children, addiction, and other problems that may strain any relationship even when the couple is not well-known. Sheperd discussed how couples therapy has helped them become more adept at “coexisting” as a couple in an interview with Us Weekly.
We have had to put in a lot of effort and counseling because we are polar opposites, he remarked. “My main concern is that when people see us, they could say, ‘Oh, I just need to find my Kristen Bell,’ and go. That is untrue. You’ll find your Kristen Bell, but the work has only begun. Relationships require a lot of work. It takes a lot of work to make them last.
David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris
David Burtka and Neil Patrick Harris have been together for almost 20 years, and Burtka recently disclosed that their relationship has only become stronger as a result of their couples therapy sessions. We visit a couple’s therapist. It’s pleasant to sort of just talk to someone who is a mediator, not that there’s anything wrong with that. That has strengthened our bond, he told Life & Style.
Michelle and Barack Obama
Yes, even former First Couples like Barack and Michelle Obama attend couples counseling. On The Tonight Show, Michelle talked about how difficult marriage is for everyone. We get along really well… I was one of the spouses who believed that taking Barack Obama to marriage therapy would help him get repaired. I was certain that I was perfect. I pleaded with Dr. X to fix him. Our counselor then turned to face me. What are you looking at, I asked. I’m flawless.
However, she continued, “marriage counseling was a turning moment for me because I realized that it wasn’t my husband’s responsibility to make me happy and that I needed to learn how to sate myself and how to prioritize myself more highly.
Jay Cutler and Kristin Cavallari
According to Us Magazine, Kristin Cavallari previously told Steve Harvey that therapy was the real key to saving her relationship with quarterback Jay Cutler. It has been quite helpful, she added, because “we’ve come so far being in treatment both individually and together as a couple.”
Robin Dearden and Bryan Cranston
After 30 years together, Bryan Cranston and Robin Dearden are still genuinely in love. What is their trade secret? They have a special rule when it comes to couples therapy, the former Breaking Bad cast member said to Rolling Stone. According to our agreement, none of us may disagree if the other feels the need to leave, he said.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Falchuk are two examples of famous couples that sought counseling.
During the epidemic, many couples dealt with the ups and downs of forced intimacy, and Gweyneth and Brad were no exception. The pair decided to record their consultation with intimacy therapist Michaela Boehm for Goop and discussed their issues with various levels of sexual desire as well as ways to re-connect with their bodies and find closeness with one another.
There are several ways a person can lose their desire for sex, according to Boehm, who cited the stress of this specific cultural period. Instead, the body “goes into the survival mode… The majority of women say they want to eat, feel cozy, indulge in sweets, and gain weight. They don’t desire as much pleasure because, of course, experiencing pleasure opens one up to experiencing all other types of emotions.
Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade
However, they are the first to admit that the #CoupleGoals comments have taken them by surprise. Gabrielle Union and Dwayne Wade have given us some really special glimpses into how they handle a variety of issues in their family (particularly as it relates to Gabrielle’s own approach to mental health and her PTSD during the pandemic).
People are “goals,” but D and I are “WTF?” We think we’ve figured it out now, but maybe we should Twitter live from couples counseling,” Union said to Complex in 2017. And when you inquire, we’ll inform you that happiness is a process.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
The famous couple Will and Jada are credited with popularizing the term “entanglement” in our language.
In an interview with The Sun, Will Smith revealed how counseling salvaged their union. He said: “What happens in a marriage once you undertake counseling, the truth comes out. And when you sit across from your wife, both of you have spoken openly and honestly. Now that the truth is out, you can’t even begin to believe that you two might ever be in love again. You learn about someone when the truth is revealed and they are forced to reveal who they are and what they believe.
Their personal therapist is obviously a constant in both of their lives and has even made an appearance on Jada’s Red Table Talk to demonstrate some of the techniques she employs with clients.
Paula Patton and Robin Thicke
Even when you actively uncouple yourselves, ex-spouses and co-parents can still gain from couple counseling. Along with Thicke’s new fiancée April Love Geary, Robin Thicke and Paula Patton (who have a kid named Julian) went to counseling.
“While therapy may not be right for everyone all the time, even a single or two visits can help us overcome difficulties. When asked about seeing Geary and Patton for therapy, Thicke remarked, “One visit, one chat with a third party may transform things if you’re struggling in your relationship. “Couples therapy has been fantastic for April and me, as well as fantastic for Paula and me in coparenting. I firmly believe in therapy because we’ve had a few sessions and they have helped us a lot.
Pink and Carey Hart
Pink and Carey Hart are big supporters of marriage counseling and open communication about it.
“For nearly the entire 17 years that Carey and I have been together, we have attended couple’s counseling. We’re still together mainly because of it,” Pink stated on Today in 2019. “…we came from shattered families and had no example of how to maintain this family and live this wild life? There is also no model. There isn’t a book that explains how to do something. We seek counseling, and it helps.
Patrick Dempsey and Jillian Fink
What was the secret behind Patrick Dempsey and Jillian Fink’s reconciliation after they called off their separation in 2015? Counseling, baby!
When you’re perhaps dissolving a family or a significant portion of your life is about to an end, it’s always unsettling, Dempsey told PEOPLE of the near-divorce situation. “I was not willing to give up on our marriage. We hadn’t finished all the work, in my opinion. We both wanted to do the task. That was the beginning of it.
Justin Hakuta and Ali Wong
Ali Wong and Justin Hakuta genuinely enjoyed going to couples counseling together, despite announcing their separation in 2022. Wong and Hakuta, who have two children together, have talked about how becoming parents inspired them to improve their communication skills and pushed them toward counseling.
Wong told Time, “I don’t see how we couldn’t go to couple’s therapy within the first two years of having kids.” “For us, it’s been incredibly crucial, and for others, I hope you have excellent communication skills if you don’t go to couple’s counseling. What is happening in other people’s relationships is always a mystery.
Marc Silverstein and Busy Philipps
Both Silverstein and Philipps have publicly stated how counseling helped them get beyond personal struggles, emotional affairs, and having a vast audience monitoring their every move.
In a talk with SK Conversations: New Year, Now You guest Eve Rodsky for a Harper’s Bazaar interview, the pair discussed the dynamics that therapy helped them comprehend and modify.
I enjoy excelling at things, Silverstein remarked. “And I stayed away because I didn’t feel comfortable at home… But after receiving counseling, I understood that my family is what truly makes me happy. And things changed as I realized what I could contribute. I wished I had done more.
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