If you feel your relationship is crumbling and you’re looking for ways to avoid a separation, there are a few things that can help save your marriage.
In this article, you will learn how to save your marriage from divorce.
How to Save Your Marriage from Divorce
Every relationship has its problems and challenges.
In fact, according to the American Psychological Association, nearly 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. This statistic is extremely high and makes you wonder if those couples truly tried everything they could to salvage their marriages.
If you are interested in learning how to save your marriage from divorce, you are on the right path.
Whether you find yourself considering the idea of separation from your spouse or you notice certain behaviors that you feel may lead to divorce down the road, the earlier you explore how to save your marriage from divorce the better.
Below are several things you can do if you find your marriage suffering from common and uncommon, marital woes.
Start with Marriage Counseling
Marriage counseling is one of the best places you can start. A marriage and family therapist is trained to help you work through your differences. She will have the education, specialized training, and experience needed to guide you toward a healthier relationship. During your sessions, you will explore feelings, identify challenges, and discover how to save your marriage from divorce through beneficial exercises specific to your relationship.
In couples therapy, both you and your spouse are given the opportunity to be heard in a safe and neutral environment. The therapist does not judge you, nor do they take sides. They assist you and teach you how to resolve problems that you haven’t been able to resolve on your own.
Schedule a complimentary 15-minute phone consultation today.
Face Your Problems
Too often, couples choose to avoid problems in their relationships rather than face them head on. This only allows the problems to grow bigger than they need to be. Facing problems when they are in the infancy stages can prevent further hurt down the road.
Conflict resolution and anger management are skills you can learn that will greatly help you and your partner face a problem together, as a team. The two of you working together can overcome obstacles and become a stronger unit.
Make Each Other a Priority
Where you focus your attention the most, is what will succeed the most. If you spend most of your day and night working, you will most likely be a success in your job. If you spend most of your day and night drinking or using substances, you will likely become an addict.
The same is true for a marriage. If you spend most of your time finding ways to improve your marriage, focusing on the needs of your relationship and your partner, this area of your life will thrive. Make your spouse feel important, wanted, needed and adored. In doing so, you will receive the same treatment, leading to a healthier marriage.
Make Yourself a Priority
You cannot make your spouse a priority if you are not healthy both physically and mentally. Taking care of your own needs is key to contributing positively to your marriage. If you are constantly depressed, your thoughts will be on your depression and what makes you depressed.
However, if you work to overcome your depression and begin to see things in a more positive light, you will also see your marriage in a more positive way.
Forgive the Past
Every person makes mistakes, some bigger than others, yet we still make them. Every person also deserves forgiveness, which can be extremely difficult to do when we feel hurt and pain by the actions of those we love.
True forgiveness releases you from the chains of those hurt feelings. It enables you to trust and love again. It allows you to participate in your marriage again. While hard to do, forgiveness is not an impossible task.
To truly forgive, you must recognize that no one is perfect and that by forgiving someone does not mean you approve of their bad behavior. It simply means you are willing to give them another chance and that your marriage is worth the effort.
Forgiveness does not mean you can constantly throw their mistakes in their face or use them against them if you argue. Instead, you must agree to do the opposite. Forgiveness is a fresh start for both of you. In time, with work and help from a therapist, trust can be regained and your marriage can be on a better path.
Be Open and Honest
You are not a mind reader and neither is your spouse. You may think you can tell what they are thinking by their facial expressions or body language. However, this is not always true. Men and women are different in how they express emotions. No matter who you are in a relationship with, the way you communicate can be different, yet still one of the most important factors in a successful marriage.
Many times, one partner expresses themselves too much while the other shuts down and becomes guarded. You must find a happy medium between these two extremes in order to have the best communication in your marriage.
Communication should be respectful, yet still allow both of you to express your feelings openly without the fear of backlash.
Date Again
That’s right, date again. Start doing fun things that can bring happiness back into the marriage. We are attracted to laughter and fun. It’s part of the reason you fell in love in the first place. Revisit those activities you did when you were first dating. Allow yourself to have fun, play and laugh together again.
Be adventurous, surprise your partner with fun outings, and be creative. The more you laugh together, the less fighting you want to do. Seek activities that lessen stress and create positive memories for both of you. Do these things with just the two of you, not the whole family.
You want little distractions from your goal of reigniting your love and saving your marriage.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are many ways you can try to salvage your marriage. You do not have to surrender after trying a few different techniques that failed. In fact, there are numerous ways you can participate to bring you closer to your spouse rather than more distant.
With the help of a marriage and family therapist, your odds of saving your marriage increase. Licensed therapists have many tools to help you increase the possibilities of your marriage succeeding.
Your job is to take these tools in put them into action to see what positive possibilities become achievable in your marriage.