How do you find a good couples therapist?

The offerings in couples therapy are vast. If you open the Internet in search of a couples therapist, the variety jumps out at you. But how do you know what works? How do you know you’ve found a good couples therapist?

Education and background are essential. Helping couples therapy begins with a therapist with accredited training. For example, our therapists took courses at the
Lorentzhuis
Haarlem and at the
RINO
in Amsterdam. In addition, our relationship therapists are members of the NVRG: Dutch Association for Relationship and Family Therapy.

The Lorentz House is a training center offering evidence-based training in the field of systemic therapy. Therapy that has been scientifically proven to work. Fortunately, Secretary of State Paul Blokhuis takes the evidence base of systemic therapy seriously. He is currently considering an NVRG report that shows that “individuals, their immediate families and society benefit from broad access to systems therapy. The Lorentz House offers training to get started as an NVRG-certified systems therapist. Our involvement with RINO Amsterdam is also valuable. Among other things, RINO provides training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) as some of our therapists have taken. EFT can help, for example, if you find you have grown apart.

So what is the power of systemic therapy?

As you also read on our website, we work from systems therapy. This approach attracts us because it is about the complete picture. We look not only at what is not going well between you, but also at the influence of the social system. What environmental factors play into your problems?

By not sitting on an island but including factors from the system, you make couples therapy effective. The goal is to look for a structural solution and strengthen your strengths. During therapy we look at, for example:

• Where there is room for improvement;
• What changes fit into the system.

And then what are common costs? For a good therapist, you pay on average between 190 and 250 euros per session. You can then assume quality couples therapy, grounded in solid training.

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