09 Apr What about the Kids? Marital Distress and its Effects on Children’s Well-Being
It is common sense that when parents fight children suffer. Research has supported this connection time and again; When the level of tension at home is high, children sense it and react unfavorably to it. Most couples argue or have a conflict from time to time. Conflict is a normal part of couples relationships and avoiding conflict is not necessarily healthy. But intense conflict, including screaming matches, name-calling, door slamming and definitely physical aggression, are damaging to both parents and children.
Studies have shown that children in conflict-ridden marriages have higher levels of anxiety and other mental health problems. These children are less well-adjusted in school and have more learning difficulties and behavioral problems than children in marriages where the level of distress is low.
If your relationship with your partner/spouse is fraught with conflict, couples therapy can help! Couples therapy has been found to be highly effective and it can improve the atmosphere at home, family well-being and children’s functioning at home and in school. In Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy the therapist focuses on deep levels of the couples connection. Together with the couple, the therapist uncovers unhelpful patterns in the relationship that together make the relationship cycle. Through couples therapy, unhelpful and painful patterns are changed to create a more amicable cycle, which allows closeness to grow and the relationship to flourish. Children thrive when their parents get along well and when they are loving toward each other. Contact Dr. Regev to make an appointment for couples therapy.