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Benefits of Marriage and Marriage Therapy The use of the term marriage is meant to include all committed relationships whether there has been a formal church or civil procedure or not. In brief, all evidence suggests that long-term, committed, secure relationships are good for people. This makes no value judgment that every single person should be married but does suggest that there are benefits to hanging in there with such a relationship, protecting it from harm, and challenging yourselves to make your relationship continuously healthier and more vibrant.
Marriage Health benefits- both men and women demonstrate health benefits from secure, committed relationships including healthier heart function, longevity, speed of recovery from illness and injury, and reduced risk of chronic illness. Men particularly appear to benefit from the health monitoring aspects of marriage in terms of partners paying more attention to their health than they themselves. The end of a marriage due to divorce or death of the spouse, appears to significantly shorten the life expectancy for men. Women appear to be more susceptible to the affects of marital tension. Poor relationship quality appears to increase risk of premature mortality and risk of heart disease in women. Healthy couples also demonstrate significantly healthier immune system function which is not surprising.
Financial- Marriage provides greater financial security and generally committed couples have higher incomes and stability of jobs. The financial stability of marriage appears to also have a positive impact on health.
Employment- The quality of the home life is directly related to job security and efficiency. All measures in this area appear to be negatively affected by problems at home. (Work accuracy and safety, absenteeism, lack of focus and concentration, illnesses and accidents, income and profitability for the employer are all impacted.)
Marriage Therapy In general, we can say that marriage therapy works. Does that mean everyone who sees a marriage therapist has a great experience? Unfortunately not. It is important to choose a therapist carefully, one with specialty skills and training in working with couples and in whom you both feel confident.
Health—Across studies of well-researched couples interventions, therapy was shown to be effective and most couples reported significant improvement in their relationships as well as their overall quality of life.
Financial—These studies have also shown a significant “offset effect”. That means that if you compare the costs of treatment to the costs of no treatment, therapy is shown to save the couple, their insurance company, their employers and the nation a considerable amount of money. This is a bold statement but it comes from data suggesting dramatic costs to society in general as well as to individual couples resulting from divorce or living in misery for years.
It is estimated that, on average, divorce will cost a couple 40% of their combined wealth. Notice that this is not one of the partners losing 50% due to community property. This is the loss of their combined wealth just based on the expenses related to divorce.
In terms of society, again the impact of divorce on children, the loss of productivity of the partners in their jobs and a variety of other costs rack up quickly.
You get the point. We could go into much more detail but, in brief, improving your relationship is of great value.
Welcome Letter | What to Expect from Couples Therapy Ambivalence about Improvement in Relationships | Payment Options |
