Marriage counseling in Poughkeepsie
Marriage counseling sessions are focused on helping you and your partner develop by finding out the needs of each other for a more fulfilling relationship.
You don't have to be in crisis to come
Some couples arrive after something serious, an affair, a separation on the table, a fight that went too far. Plenty of others come in because they've been having the same argument for three years and they're sick of it. Both are worth an hour a week.
One thing to know up front: this isn't a courtroom. Nobody is going to be declared right. The point is to figure out what each of you is actually asking for underneath the argument, because it's almost never what the argument is about.
How the sessions run
Most sessions are joint. Occasionally Dr. Peña will ask to see each of you separately for one session if something needs unpacking privately.
Uninterrupted. That alone changes the conversation for a lot of couples in the first week.
A way of raising a hard topic, a check-in to try, a habit to drop. Then you come back and talk about how it went.
For couples who want it, faith can be part of this. Dr. Peña takes both the natural and the spiritual side of a marriage into account when clients ask him to, and leaves it out entirely when they don't.
If children are caught in the middle, family counseling may fit better. If one of you wants to work on something alone first, that's individual counseling. See also common questions.
Evening times on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday are the easiest for couples who both work.
"He walked us through our marriage counseling and it was a positive experience."