Ranking The Best Counselors in Houston
The idea of being in a long-term, committed relationship is beautiful; however, sometimes marriages face obstacles where outside help is needed. Knowing when to seek marriage counseling can be humbling and frightening, but it can also be the best experience that you will have. A good marriage counselor can root out the deepest parts of the problems you are facing, and help lead you and your spouse to an effective solution.
The difficulty is knowing where to start. If you do not have a strong community support system in place, you may not be tied to a counselor that you know or trust; these feelings are key to ensuring that you have effective sessions and see growth from your counseling. The following counselors are some of the top therapists in the Houston area.
Melody Allen – Psychesync
Melody Allen has been practicing as a marital counselor for 6 years. She is focused on clients of African-American, Hispanic, and Latino ethnicity, and is available for sessions in Spanish. She is the head of Psychesync, which is an organization promoting the importance of systemic thinking. This systemic thinking encourages clients to focus on introspection as a way of identifying personal issues; out of this identification will come growth as the client works to deal with their underlying problem. This growth is seen as the healing factor in marriages and family.
Psychesync deals with marital education and counseling, and also with family counseling (including court-mandated sessions) and conflict resolution classes. The idea behind each of these areas of therapy is that if introspection is achieved on a deep level, the personal problem at the root of the outward problems can be identified and improved upon, resulting in overall growth in the client.
Mrs. Raquel Fernandez
Mrs. Fernandez is a Marriage and Family therapist who has been in private practice for over 20 years in the Houston area. She is focused on ensuring that individuals achieve satisfying and full relationships, and has studied prolifically to ensure that she is able to provide the best advice available in the area. She is also registered with the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, and supervises other therapists within the organization. She also was named “Therapist of the Year” in 2009 by Cancer Counseling. She is available for sessions in English or Spanish.
Mrs. Fernandez understands that marital problems do not always happen when people are young. Her focus on elder counseling sets her apart from other marriage therapists. She deals with family discord caused by death of elders, as well as focusing on counseling those who are struggling in their retirement years. She also is certified to deal with issues of depression, PTSD, death, grief, and stress, which can each individually test a marital relationship.
New Life Counseling Group
New Life Counseling Group consists of a number of Christian therapists who are specially certified in areas of marriage and divorce therapy, as well as addictions, grief, PTSD, and other areas. This group of professionals are focused on sensitively working through your struggles with you, and answering your questions with grace and clarity. The state that their counselors take the approach of “holistic healers”, attempting to not only identify and build upon the original area of concern in your marriage, but also see growth in the larger marriage relationship and each of the individuals. This ensures that the problem is not only solved, but that the relationship is stable and consistently growing even when the counseling is complete.
New Life Counseling Group has been practicing for over 10 years, and deals with a wide range of issues beyond just marital and divorce counseling. Realizing that as issues are delved into, often more problems or areas of hurt as discovered, these counselors work to ensure that they are prepared to help you in all areas of life. The understanding that issues can be related and abetting other issues is key to holistic growth. All of this takes place with the therapists’ Christian outlook guiding the sessions and ultimately becoming part of the healing process.
Attend a Marriage Retreat in Texas
If you are unable to attend counseling sessions but still want help with your marital obstacles, there are options available to you. One option is attending a marriage retreat, such as the one offered by Family Services of Greater Houston. These retreats offer couples time away from their regular routine, and allows them to focus on the obstacles in their marriage without distraction. These sessions are available in many languages including English, Spanish, and Chinese, and also have ethnically-distinct group sessions where problems or issues specific to different cultures are dealt with.
There are two levels of retreats available. Marriage 101 goes through the basics of marriage; it helps participants understand the key communication and conflict-resolution tactics necessary for a strong marriage. Beyond 101 goes deeper into the idea of building a loving, sensitive relationship with your partner, and focuses more on the nurturing of the relationship rather than the basic survival of the relationship. Both of these courses are offered at a subsidized price.