If you’re married to a Spanish-speaking person, language can be a tough barrier to overcome. Most married couples find it challenging to communicate with their Spanish partner, but several external sources help. If you’re a newly married couple, don’t worry.
Marriage counseling in Spanish is one of the best ways for partners to express their feelings, develop a healthy, bilingual relationship, and avoid the stressful situations that might result from it. In this guide, we’ll tell you why you should visit a Spanish marriage counselor and how to find the best Spanish counseling service without a hassle!
Reasons to Seek Marriage Counseling in Spanish
More often than not, things get lost in translation, which is why seeking solutions from therapists or marriage counselors are of the utmost importance.
Since English marriage counseling might not work for your Spanish spouse, you ought to find a counselor who’s either a native Spanish speaker themselves or a multilingual one. If you’re still wondering why marriage counseling in Spanish is essential, take a look at these reasons:
Enhance Your Communication With Your Spouse
There’s no denying that marriage counselors play a valuable role in marital communications when partners fail to do so. Counseling most certainly will help a Spanish marriage, especially when couples can’t sustain their relationships anymore.
Spanish marriage counseling, and bilingual marriage counseling in general, can bridge many gaps between bilingual couples. When your significant other opens up to a therapist, they’ll be able to share what many translations couldn’t.
Licensed counselors have also licensed professionals; their job is to understand the emotions of bilingual couples, not just the meaning behind their words, and give them advice accordingly.
Bilingual Marriage Counseling Involves Switching Languages
As opposed to English marriage counseling, bilingual sessions usually involve a language switch, and your counselor might even offer to translate some sentences to get the meaning across.
Unfortunately, counseling is known to fail in Spanish marriage, but in reality, these couples need therapy sessions the most, so that’s just a myth.
They need a person who understands how they’re using the two languages to navigate these communications more efficiently.
Spanish Marriage Counseling Is a Rare Find
Between therapy sessions and online counseling services, you might find it exceedingly hard to find quality Spanish marriage counseling since Spanish counselors make up 5.5% of psychologists and psychology practitioners all across the U.S.
This alarming figure is an example of why good therapy services can be limited to some people, which is precisely why finding quality Spanish marriage counseling services is even more crucial.
This is why they’re a rare breed, and their services are even rarer. That’s in addition to the fact that non-native clients don’t feel comfortable sharing private information with a counselor that doesn’t speak their native language.
If you’re worried that your search for a Spanish-speaking marriage counselor will be a challenging process, don’t worry; we’ll get to that part in a moment!
How to Search for Spanish Marriage Counselor
Before you get started on your life-changing search for Spanish marriage counseling, here are some factors to take into account.
Experience
Experience is the first thing you need to consider in marriage counseling in general. Your therapist should be licensed with a couple of years of experience in marriage counseling, particularly Spanish marriage counseling. This might be raising the bar too high, but remember that you’re doing it for your partner and relationship.
Reviews
If you go through the website of any marriage counseling service, you’ll undoubtedly find people talking about their experience with that Spanish-speaking psychologist. The information there will help you make an informed decision, especially if you’re choosing between two marriage counseling services.
To find these reviews, look through social media pages or popular directories, such as The National Registry of Marriage Friendly Therapists or the Gottman Referral Directory.
Understand the Titles
It doesn’t matter if a therapist can provide perfect Spanish translations of marriage therapy text; if the therapist doesn’t have the proper credentials, they won’t give you the quality marriage counseling you deserve.
Here are some titles you should look for:
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
- Psychologist (Psy.D. or Ph.D.)
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
- Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC)
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
Specialized Marriage and Couples Therapy Training
It’d also be a plus if the said therapist has received specialized training in marriage and family therapy. Here are some more credentials to look for:
- Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy
- Relational Life Therapy
- The Psychobiological Approach of Couples Therapy (PACT)
- Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT)
Cost
Truth be told, therapy and marriage counseling aren’t cheap businesses, and finding a cost-friendly counseling service is quite challenging. However, you can still find a Spanish marriage counseling service that doesn’t charge astronomical figures.
Additionally, you might want to look through their policies first and search for a ‘receive compensation’ policy if their service isn’t to your liking.
Visiting a Marriage Counselor: What to Expect?
As mentioned, the first thing to expect in your first Spanish marriage counseling session is switching between languages. Your therapist will opt to use both languages to make you and your partner feel at ease. This practice will increase as your therapist delves into personal, more intimate matters, particularly when they ask you to talk in detail about your marriage.
Next, they’ll probably ask you to talk about the history of your relationship, issues you’ve been facing throughout the years, differences between you and your spouse, and incompatibility concerns. They might also ask you to create goals and find common grounds if your goals differ.
Last but not least, they might ask you to attend sessions individually.
Sure, you’re going to attend most sessions together, but you’ll also need to participate in a couple of sessions alone for better assessment. It’s worth noting that many people consider individual sessions with a bilingual counselor are the things that Spanish-speaking spouses benefit from the most.
Plus, don’t forget that both you and your partner need to be honest, vulnerable, and open to suggestions. Your counseling sessions will be a safe zone where you can share your thoughts, fears, and ideas without anyone judging you. So, do all that it takes to save your relationship!
Bottom Line
Relationships might seem easy to get through, particularly if you’re a newly, happily married bilingual couple, but trouble can always find its way to your marriage, especially if it’s a bilingual one.
Bilingual counseling services are there for that particular reason. Counselors aren’t just going to translate your spouse’s feelings crudely; they’ll make sure you understand their perspective and help enhance your communication.
Remember that using only one language in a counseling session will make your partner feel inferior, so a bilingual marriage counseling service is highly advised in these relationships to ensure that you’re both on the same page when it comes to Spanish communication.
Therapy is always there to help you feel seen, heard and cared for, so be sure to seek the best marriage counseling service out there to take your relationship to a new level with the help of professional advice and support!