• At least 10% of the adult population have had or will have Depression in their lifetime.
• You cannot simply "snap out" of Depression, but psychotherapy can help you recover.
• A combination of medication and psychotherapy is the most effective way to treat Depression.
• Panic Attacks can be very scary and unpleasant, but they are not dangerous.
• Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy is the most effective way to treat Panic Disorder.
• Postpartum Depression affects one in every 10 recently delivered women.
• Postpartum Depression is a highly treatable condition.
• OCD can be very distressing as well as debilitating, but there are effective treatments that can help.
• OCD affects 2.5% of the population. This means that millions of people around the world suffer from this disorder.
• Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy can correct abnormalities in the brain that are implicated in OCD, Depression and Anxiety.
• Learning to manage you Stress better can prove to be a remedy for a variety of health problems.
• Marital Conflict negatively affects the emotional and physical well being of children.
• Couples Therapy can be highly effective in alleviating marital conflict.
• 75% of _parents say that the Transition to parenthood was the most significant change in their lives.
• The birth of a child often has a profound effect on the Marital Relationship.

Couples Counselling / Marriage Therapy / Couple Therapy

Couples/marital therapy is a form of conjoint therapy offered to couples that have experienced distress in their relationship. Couples may seek therapy for different reasons and at different points in their lives. The common thread among couples who seek therapy is the sense that the relationship is not working as well as it could and/or that the distress in the relationship significantly affects their sense of well-being and quality of life. Research has found that marital distress can lead to physical illness and exacerbate mental illness, such as depression and anxiety.

Whereas distressed couples are different from one another in the issues they bring to therapy, their style, history etc., by the time they seek therapy all of them have developed a unique Cycle. The Cycle is a pattern of negative interactions that repeats itself, and may leave the partners feeling frustrated, hurt, angry and sometimes hopeless. With time, the negative cycle may create a sense of alienation and may lead the couple to contemplate or pursue separation and/or divorce.

The goal of marital therapy as I perceive it, is to uncover the cycle and the underlying issues that drive it, such as lack of trust, insecurity etc. Then, to change the cycle in order to resolve the underlying issues and to foster greater understanding, closeness and a sense of security and comfort in the relationship.

Marital therapy is a powerful model of treatment that has been found to be highly effective in treating marital distress. Like any other treatment, it is not for everybody, but those couples who are willing to participate in the process of healing, in and outside the therapy room, may greatly benefit from it.

For more information, contact Dr Regev:

Tel: 604-261-7209
Email:

Click here to read a case example

Further Readings

Johnson, S. (2008). Hold me tight: Seven conversations for a lifetime of love.
Little, Brown & Company.

Gottman, M. J. (2000). The seven principles for making marriage work. Seattle, WA:
Three Rivers Press.

Markman, H., Stanley, S, & Blumberg, S. L. (1994). Fighting for your marriage. San Francisco:
Jossey-Bass.

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