Your Questions About Couples Counseling

MarriageCounseling answers:

You and he are frustrated because you don’t see the “family” headed in the direction that each of you desire. It is possible you desire one avenue and he another. The best way to remove conflict is to have a “family” plan on where you are going. Financially, socially, family-wise, home, cars….From that point, you focus not on each other but whether a particular action or activity is in support of the “family” plan. This process requires compromise on the plan without having to compromise on each of your individual desires.

The easiest part of this broad plan is the finances. (although implementation is difficult) There are programs like Dave Ramsay or Suzy Orman that will give you an outline and a program to work on together.

MarriageCounseling answers:

I went to one session after I asked my husband for a divorce.

It was enlightening.
He kept telling the woman we were happy.

Finally, she looked at him and asked
“If you’re happy, why did she ask you for a divorce, and see a lawyer?”

He never did answer that one.

I understand that it only works for couples who are willing to commit to the process…but if you can’t get past hurt and recriminations, it won’t do much.

Good luck.

MarriageCounseling answers:

I think it’s a good idea only if you really are not expecting to get back with him. It’s a good learning experience for you to see what happened in your relationship so you can avoid it in the future. I think it’s a little weird that you two are in “couples” counseling,(i don’t mean that in a bad way) but i’ve seen and heard worse.. Whatever helps you move on. Good luck! =)

MarriageCounseling answers:

Well, insurance companies may or may not pay for this type of service so you might want to check with the insurance company beforehand (or have your provider verify benefits for you). Many require prior authorization – the insurance companies typically want documentation regarding the nature and necessity of these service before approving them. Benefits payable will be determined based upon how your provider bills the claim(s) to the insurer but they shouldn’t need to bill both your insurance companies for the service. They could bill one or the other and just report the code for “family therapy”. Essentially, the therapist would be billing for one of you as the patient and telling the insurance company that the patient’s family was present during the session. Knowing that, you’d probably want to use the insurance with the most generous coverage for this type of service.

Now, while I’m a health insurance claims analyst and have been for years, I will admit that mental health has become a rather specialized benefit area. These types of benefits are nowadays handled more and more by insurance companies/subsidiaries of insurance companies devoted specifically to behavioral health and this area isn’t my forte. I figured I would give you my thinking since I saw that nobody else had yet answered. Hopefully, someone with more specific experience in mental health benefits might answer as well