Q:

What is the difference between marital therapy and marriage counseling?


A:

Marital therapy and marriage counseling are two separate disciplines.

Marital therapy is the treatment of choice if your relationship is in severe crisis or chronic discord.

Marriage counseling is right for you if your relationship is mostly harmonious, but you want help solving a particular problem, like a disagreement about parenting approaches.

Unlike marriage counseling, marital therapy can change the actual dynamic in your relationship by helping you shift out of negative patterns and into positive ones.  Then you'll be better able to address a variety of problems.