The form of therapy with the poorest sustained success rate is couples counseling. But that’s misleading. Joint counseling of intimate partners faces challenges beyond those of its therapeutic cousins.

A primary obstacle to the long-term success of couples counseling is that partners tend to initiate it too late. This is like waiting to visit an oncologist until the tumor is visible or the pain is unbearable. Typically, one partner pleads for relationship therapy for years to no avail. Eventually, the recalcitrant partner senses (or is told) that the partner who has asked for counseling for years is fed up. At that point, it’s often too late; resentment has hardened into contempt, if not detachment.

Another obstacle to the sustained success of couples counseling is that partners who live together........

© Psychology Today