Finding a marriage counselor

People are often amazed at what my marriage has endured. The truth is that our faith and counseling has gotten us through. If you are thinking about a Bellevue counselor or someone near you, then I would encourage you in your search.

Since becoming a couple, we have successfully weathered a critically baby, bankruptcy, job loss and the death of parents. Plus of course, we have endured several moves of over 150 miles, the rape and beating as well as chronic illness in each of our children. Did I mention job changes, college and an upcoming wedding?

Finding a marriage counselor isn't something to be taken lightly. For counseling to be effective it is important to have someone that matches your personality. You can't just open a phone book, run your finger down the list and find a perfect fit.

We needed someone who could both coach and mediate. The person needed to be nurturing but also have the ability to help help us communicate effectively with each other. Most of all, our counselor needed to remain positive but realistic and call our hands if we weren't working hard enough on our marriage. Confidentiality is non-negotiable.

You are hiring someone to do a job and to do it well. Hubby and I drew up a list of questions that we asked each potential candidate. Frankly, I didn't care so much where they placed in their graduating class. I wanted to know why they chose this type of work and why he or she would be the right counselor for us.

Finding the right person took three tries. Right off the bat, one person asked about my need to 'conduct an interview'. Guess who didn't get the job?

The next didn't take our insurance. Finally, the third person seemed to enjoy answering the questions, took our insurance, was open one evening a week and did not bill for the first consult. The counselor was also available by phone and email which was important to us.

I have been looking over the website for:

Authentic-You Katie Swartz
2025 112th Ave NE, Suite 300
Bellevue, WA 98004-2943
(206) 794-2717
http://counselorbellevue.com/ 

She seems to offer a lot of what I felt we needed at the time. You may find it to be useful even if you don't need a Bellevue marriage counselor. The site has resources,books and other information that may help you improve your marriage and your life.

Let me say a couple of things before closing this post. Remember that you can follow your dreams to have the life that you want. Just as importantly, you deserve to do so.