Free And Low Cost Couples Counseling Alternatives In Brooklyn
At Eclectic Counseling Brooklyn, we often get asked about free couples counseling.
The cost of couples counseling can be a little high for some, even if the benefits outweigh the costs tenfold.
While we don’t offer free counseling, we’ve put together this guide on free counseling and the best alternatives to professional couples and marriage counselors.
So please read on as we list the best free and low cost options in the Brooklyn and New York area.
Free couples therapy and counseling in Brooklyn
Unfortunately, counselors and therapists don’t offer services free of charge. They’ve undergone years of study and costly college tuition. These professionals have to make a living, and providing counseling services for free isn’t possible to support themselves and their families.
A counselor offers an invaluable service that can heal a relationship and spark the flair that two people thought they lost.
Low cost options
There are low cost options for couples counseling in Brooklyn. Such as couples counseling for $50 per hour, which is a very affordable rate. There’s also online counseling that’s going to be cheaper than face to face.
You can also enquire into counselors who charge at a sliding scale. This means their price varies depending on your income. Allowing lower income earners to receive counseling services that they usually can’t afford.
If you’re going to be spending $50 each week for a counseling session, how much more is $100 or $150 each week ? If it’s going to be for a short period?
Remember, couples counseling is usually short term. It’s not uncommon for the whole process to only last twelve weeks.
If you had a broken leg or a severe physical ailment, you wouldn’t hesitate to fix the condition, no matter how much the doctor asks.
Your relationship and mental health hold the same value, if not more, than your physical health.
Couples counseling is like rebuilding the foundations of a faulty building.
It sets up your relationship for years of happiness and success and will make you a better partner and a mentally healthier individual.
Alternatives to couples counseling that costs you nothing
If you’re still not sold on briefly stretching your finances to visit a qualified counselor, and low cost options aren’t appealing to you either.
We’re going to cover some free strategies you can use to move your relationship in the right direction. We can’t guarantee these recommendations will fix everything in your relationship, but hopefully, they will help.
Write each other a letter
Writing out your issues can be extraordinarily therapeutic and will help you see things in a more rational and nuanced sense. It’s not uncommon for a couple’s counselor to ask their patients to write a letter to each other at the beginning and end of treatment.
There’s no wrong way to write this letter, but you should be sincere and not hold back on how you’re feeling. Talk about how you feel about the relationship as a whole. Why do you think the issues in your relationship have begun. The problems you have with your partner and the issues you believe you contribute.
You must take self responsibility in this letter and show your significant other you’re not heaping the blame on them, but a joint effort that requires effort from both of you. Pouring the blame on one person will create further resentment and not help the situation.
The other benefit of a letter is it communicates each person’s thoughts and feelings without being spoken. Verbal communication can quickly stir strong emotions, and the issues trying to be discussed are entirely missed.
If you find every time you and your partner sit down to discuss your issues, resentment quickly builds. Try writing each other a letter, or even better. Visit a professional counselor!
Involve someone else as a mediator
Involving another individual can work but also turn sour if you choose the wrong person. If you’re considering this option, we highly recommend you simply work with a trained counselor instead.
But if you decide on having a third person present that isn’t a counselor, this person must have a neutral position within the discussion and not take any sides. If this third person isn’t neutral, it will throw everything out of balance and worsen the situation.
Having a third person present as you discuss your issues can make you self reflect and reconsider your opinions and past actions in a new light.
Usually, when it’s just you and your partner, you may see them as the enemy or not properly reflect on how you’re contributing to the issues in your relationship.
This usually isn’t the case with a third person present, which makes the process so powerful. You’ll most properly self reflect more deeply and think twice before you say something.
You’ll most likely keep your emotions in check and not let things get out of hand, when another person is present.
Conclusion
Free couples counseling services in Brooklyn aren’t possible, but there low cost options available.
If money is a concern, you’ll get the most bang for your buck by seeing a professional counselor that charges a standard price.
Low cost counselors will most likely be less effective and can result in a longer treatment period.
If your relationship is truly important to you, the cost of a professional shouldn’t be a concern.