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Role of counseling in marriage

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 Research Trends in

MULTIDISCIPLINARY
RESEARCH
Volume - 33

Chief Editor
Dr. R. Jayakumar
Associate Professor, Siga College of Education, Villupuram, Tamil Nadu,
India
Co-Editor
Dr. Raja Reddy. Duvvuru
Associate Professor, Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering,
Malla Reddy Engineering College (A), Hyderabad, Telangana, India

AkiNik Publications
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Published By: AkiNik Publications

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Publication Year: 2022
Pages: 113
ISBN: 978-93-5570-019-3
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Price: ` 721/-
 Contents

S. No. Chapters Page No.

1. Vehicle Tracking and Accident Detection System using 01-16
Mobile App
(R. Kanmani, Dr. S. Mary Praveena, R. Rakhul, R. Sakthivel and S.
Sharjeel)

2. Counselling for Stress Management: A Review 17-33

(Sangeeta, Dr. Poonam Malik, Arju Saini and Jyoti Dudi)

3. Role of Guidance and Counseling in Effective Teaching 35-48

and Learning at Schools
(Jyoti, Poonam Malik, Reema Sharma, Sakshi Sharma and Sangeeta)

4. Role of Counselling in Marriage 49-59

(Arju Saini, Dr. Poonam Malik, Sangeeta Lohan and Anshu)

5. Psychotherapy's Efficacy in the Treatment of Postpartum 61-81

Depression: A Review
(Sakshi Sharma, Poonam Malik, Yashvee, Jyoti Dudi and Anshu)

6. Review on the Role of Counselling in Healthy Parent- 83-91

Adolescent Relationship
(Anshu Devi, Dr. Poonam Malik, Meenu Boora, Sakshi Sharma and
Aarzoo)

7. खुदरा �ापार म� आिथ�क उदारीकरण और गरीबी उ�ूलन- एक 93-104

समी�ा
(डॉ० मु० इसरार खाँ )

8. A Review of Role Counseling in Single Parenting 105-113

(Renu, Poonam Malik, Sumanpreet Kaur and Namrataa Mamgai)
 Chapter - 4
Role of Counselling in Marriage

Authors
Arju Saini
M.Sc. Student, Department of Human Development and
Family Studies, I.C. College of Home Sciences, Chaudhary
Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University Hisar, Haryana,
India
Dr. Poonam Malik
Assistant Professor, Department of Human Development and
Family Studies, I.C. College of Home Sciences, Chaudhary
Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University Hisar, Haryana,
India
Sangeeta Lohan
M.Sc. Student, Department of Human Development and
Family Studies, I.C. College of Home Sciences, Chaudhary
Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar,
Haryana, India
Anshu
M.Sc. Student, Department of Human Development and
Family Studies, I.C. College of Home Sciences, Chaudhary
Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar,
Haryana, India

Page | 49
Page | 50
 Chapter - 4
Role of Counselling in Marriage
Arju Saini, Dr. Poonam Malik, Sangeeta Lohan and Anshu

Abstract
Marriage is the most important relationship in the life of an adult. That
is why it requires extra care and attention, particularly when couples are
unable to manage things. According to www.goodtherapy.org/learn-about-
therapy/modes/marriage-counseling, counselling assists a married couple in
recognizing and reconciling or at the very least managing differences and
repeating patterns of stress in their marital relationship. This review paper
investigates the role of guidance and counselling on marital relationships to
come up with interventions that could enhance marital life. Given the
importance of improving marital quality among young adults in today's
world, the review concentrated on the efficacy of marital counselling among
young adults.
The study was guided by the following objectives
• Identifying marital relationship challenges; and investigating the
role of guidance and counselling in promoting marital relationships.
• Counselling assists couples in recognizing and resolving conflicts
caused by excessive family responsibility, thereby improving their
relationships.
• Marriage counselling assists individuals in making informed
decisions about how to build and strengthen their relationships.
• Guidance and counselling can help couples build strong marital
relationships.
• This review advocated for marriage counselling, with a focus on
raising awareness of marital happiness and satisfaction.
• It would aid in resolving marital conflicts and increasing marital
satisfaction.
Keywords: Challenges, guidance, and counselling marital satisfaction,
marital relationship.

Page | 51
Introduction
Marriage is an institution that brings a man and a woman together to
form a family. It is a stable relationship in which a man and a woman are
legally allowed to have children. Marriage is regarded as a holy performance
of religious duties in India. Marriage is viewed as a union of two joint
families rather than two young people. In their study, Spanier and Cole
(1976) defined marital quality as a subject and process in a dyad. They
identified four marital quality dimensions: dyadic cohesion, dyadic
consensus, dyadic affection, and dyadic satisfaction. They assert that marital
adjustment is a broad term that is commonly defined as the functioning and
success of marital satisfaction and happiness.
Marriage counselling encompasses a wide range of technical
interventions aimed at reducing marital discord. Marriage counselling’s
focus and goals are generally the resolutions of the immediate presenting
problems and the provision of emotional support to the spouses as well as
the enhancement of their self-esteem and optimism. Two people usually
attend counselling sessions together to discuss specific issues. In their study,
Hampson, Prince, and Beavers (1999) investigated the effectiveness of
couple's therapy to identify the characteristics and qualities of couples who
fare best in treatment. Significant family functioning qualities were
discovered to be related to success, and more competent couples performed
better in therapy. Furthermore, couples who did not have children fared
better in treatment than those who did. Overall, remarried couples with no
children outperformed first-married couples with no children, first-married
couples with children, and remarried couples with children in treatment.
The marriage counsellor works with the couple to help them understand
that, in most cases, both partners are contributing to the relationship's
problems. When this is grasped, the two can learn to alter their interactions
with one another to solve problems. The partners may be encouraged to
create a contract in which each partner describes the behaviour that he or she
will strive to maintain.
Marriage is not required for two people to seek marriage counselling.
Anyone who wants to improve his or her relationship can get assistance with
behavioural issues, relationship issues, or mental or emotional disorders.
Methods
Srivastav, Singh, and Nigam (1988) investigated the effect of certain
demographic characteristics on marital adjustments, such as age differences,
marriage duration, education, occupation, psychological, sexual factors,

Page | 52
socioeconomic status, and the number of children. According to the findings,
age differences between husband and wife played a significant role in marital
adjustment. These elements are as follows:
Demographic factors
The demographic factor, which focuses on- is one of the factors that are
related to and can affect marital life.
• Age of marriage
• Duration of marriage
• Working men and women
• Economic considerations
• Psychological aspects
• Sexual aspects
Marriage age - It can be an important and underlying factor in
determining marriage consequences in any society, which are determined by
specific environmental, economic, and cultural circumstances. Most studies
have referred to the age ranges of 18-25 and 24-30 years as suitable marriage
ages for men and women because some believe that marriage at these ages is
associated with a higher quality of life and that marriage at ages under 18 for
women and 20 for men is likely to be associated with divorce or failure and
decreased marriage stability. According to some studies, both young and old
married people are dissatisfied with their marriages; however, dissatisfaction
is higher among young married couples. It appears that culture and
geographical region influence the appropriate marriage age.
Marriage duration- Each marriage has a defined duration as well as
specific phases. It appears that dissatisfaction will be the result of a lack of
complete agreement over important issues such as raising children, financial
problems, and relationships with relatives in the middle of married life,
compared to the first-fifth year, and grounds for incompatibility and
instability will be established; however, when children become separated and
independent of family, marital satisfaction is greater than when they live
with their family.
Men and women who work - Employment and adequate income
earned by men are associated with a higher quality of life, and men who did
not have a permanent job or were unemployed in the previous year were
more likely to divorce and have lower marital satisfaction. Furthermore, a
woman's job, in addition to a man's occupation and income, can help

Page | 53
improve quality of life and some aspects of marital satisfaction. According to
a 2014 study by Mirzaee and colleagues, marital satisfaction scores in
employed spouses of married men in Kermanshah are significantly higher
than housewife spouses of married men.
Economic factors - Marriage is more of an economic relationship and a
secure social network than it is an emotional relationship. The quality and
stability of married life are formed by income, jobs, properties, debt, and the
division of household chores. In other words, income, expenditure, saving,
and sharing money are inseparable components of married life in the modern
era. Financial issues are the most common source of conflict in
interpersonal, marital, and family relationships, and proper employment and
income are critical issues in establishing, maintaining, and increasing marital
satisfaction. Financial problems and low income have been shown to cause
conflict, lower marital satisfaction, and divorce between couples. There was
a positive correlation between marital satisfaction and economic situation in
some studies.
Psychological factors - women and men's confidence in each other's
psychological health is one of the most important factors that contribute to
the success and stability of marriage because psychological health disorder
reduces the likelihood of satisfying relationships. Marital satisfaction and
psychological health after marriage have a positive relationship. The
psychological profile of couples experiencing incompatibility and
dissatisfaction was discovered to be unfavourable, with a higher prevalence
of mood and anxiety disorders than the control group. In addition, there was
a link between marital satisfaction and depression and anxiety in couples.
Sexual factors - Sexual need has long been one of the most contentious
human needs, occupying the human mind and influencing human
behaviour throughout history, even when there was no culture or civilization
as we know it. Desirable sexual relationships and sexual health are both
required and acceptable in the family and marriage system, and they are two
of the most powerful predictors of marriage stability and success There was
a significant relationship between sexual dysfunction and low marital
satisfaction in Khazaei's study. Furthermore, there was a relationship
between sexual satisfaction and marriage duration, with individuals who had
been married for less than 15 years having higher sexual satisfaction. A
study found a positive significant relationship between the score of sexual
schema pattern (three subscales of passionate-romantic, explicit-comfortable,
and shy-cautious) and marital satisfaction. Individuals who do not have
sexual satisfaction, on the other hand, have a 5 times higher rate of marital
dissatisfaction.

Page | 54
Some of the author's studies were also included in this review, and they
are as follows
• Gurin, Veroff, and Feld (1960)- discovered that advice on settling
a dispute or resolving an issue was one of the most frequently
reported benefits by clients. Therapeutic intervention is another
advantage. In this setting, the counsellor assists patients in gaining
insights into their emotional difficulties and gradually restoring
their confidence and love, thereby creating conditions for decisions
and cooperation.
• Zuo (1992)- investigated the reciprocal relationship between
marital interaction and marital happiness as separate constructs,
using the typical two major dimensions of marital quality (marital
happiness and marital adjustment). Eating, shopping, visiting
friends, doing household projects, and going out are all components
of marital interactions. The amount of understanding received from
the other spouse, happiness with the spouse's companionship,
happiness with the amount of love and affection received from the
spouse, and the strength of love for the spouse all contribute to
marital happiness.
• Johnson, Amoloza, and Booth (1992)- examined an eight-year
longitudinal study of the stability and developmental changes in
marital quality. They used five dimensions to assess marital quality:
one intra-personal dimension that recorded the personal evaluation
of the relationship and four interpersonal dimensions: the amount of
interaction, the amount and intensity of disagreement, behavioural
characteristics that cause a problem in the marriage, and divorce
proclivity.
• Shah (1995)- attempted to establish the clinical validity of the
marital quality scale (MQS) in her study by administering the scale
to a clinical group of 15 males and 15 females with marital
disharmony and comparing them to a matched normal sample aged
20-40 years. The results show that there was a significant difference
between the two groups in terms of the mean total score and scores
on the 11 MQS factors. The clinical group scored higher on the
scale due to a lack of understanding in the marital unit, feelings of
greater rejection from the spouse, a lower level of satisfaction in
sexual and security needs, and unfulfilled affectionless needs, with
unfulfilled affectionless needs contributing to a lack of concern and
unhappiness. The findings indicate the presence of despair as a
result of helplessness and regret about the relationship.

Page | 55
 • Johnson and Talitman (1997)- conducted a study to investigate
the client variables expected to predict success in emotionally
focused marital therapy, which is currently the second most
validated type of marital therapy after behavioural approaches. The
relationship between attachment quality, interpersonal trust, self-
disclosure, and traditionality and the therapy outcome variables
marital adjustment, intimacy, and therapist ratings of improvement
was investigated. It was discovered that, overall, therapeutic
alliance predicted successful outcomes and that, in particular, the
task dimension of the alliance predicted a couple's satisfaction.
• Shapiro and Guttmann (2005)- conducted a study on the effects
of a psycho-communicative educational intervention on marriage
with couples undergoing the transition to parenthood, with an
evaluation one year after the intervention. In general, the results
showed that the preventive intervention using a psycho-
communicative educational format was more effective than a
control group for wife and husband marital quality, wife and
husband postpartum depression, and observed wife and husband
hostile effect scored from marital conflict videotapes.
• Evans, Turner, and Trotter (2012)- discovered evidence to
support the effectiveness of several approaches with couples and
families, including Multi-Systemic Family Therapy (MST) and
family problem-solving, in their study on the effectiveness of
family and relationship therapy. The findings have resulted in the
ability to predict marriage permanence with only a 10% error. He
discovered, in particular, that the use of four attitudes or Four
Horsemen (criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling)
appeared to predict relationship failure with great accuracy.
• Kepler (2015) studied Marital Satisfaction- The Impact of
Premarital and Couples Counselling. The goal of this study was to
look into the relationship between premarital and marital
counselling and couples' marital satisfaction. The findings revealed
a trend in which individuals who participated in premarital
counselling reported higher marital satisfaction than those who did
not participate in premarital counselling.
Conclusion
Understanding the inevitability of problems in a couple's marital life
allows them to appreciate the progress they make in loving, to be less harsh

Page | 56
with themselves about their defensiveness, and to be more motivated to
overcome it. There is a direct need for them to seek counselling at various
stages of their marital life, to enable them to make life–long adjustments that
will help them maintain a good relationship with their spouses. In this way,
the couple can learn to tip the scales of their ambivalence in favour of love
over fear at each stage of their life–long marriage. Creating a life that
revolves around a loving relationship is not a selfish act. Being loving is
what it takes to live as a balanced matured adult in the outside world.
Individual benefits of relational development should be carried by spouses
into a more humane relationship with their children, friends, and co-workers.
Couples can help to change forest relationships for the better by focusing
their marriage on love. This is true because when couples commit to putting
love first and living a love-centred marital life, everything else falls into
place, including child-rearing, recreation, and community activities.
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