Counselling for Couples and Families

Couple counselling is counselling where both partners in a relationship meet with a therapist at the same time. One of the therapist’s roles is to manage the needs of both individuals and the relationship simultaneously.

Relationship or couple counselling is complex and requires specialist skills. Fergus has completed extensive post-degree training in relationship counselling and family therapy and has also written and delivered training in this field.

Family therapy is a broad term than encompasses couple counselling and also counselling with other members of the family or extended family - for example, adult or teenage children with one or both parents.

Topics that often form the focus of couple therapy include:

• decision making
• managing negotiation & conflict
• issues with in-laws, friends and extended family members
• coping with the transition to parent-hood and other life changes
• affairs
• sexual problems
• Parent-child conflict
• marital breakdown and separation
• Assisting couples deal with the impact of difficult working arrangements – such as fly-in-fly-out or shift work – on their relationship;
• Step-family problems
• family violence and
• life crises and change.