Category: <span>Family Counselling</span>

62 years of marriage and their take on marriage counselling
Marriage Counselling Counselling Couples Therapy Family Counselling Self-improvement • • • • By erniekdm 0 Comments

Couple Married for 62 Years and Their Take on Marriage Counselling

Whenever a married couple seeks the help of a counsellor, it gets people talking. Neighbors, friends, and anyone who knows the couple start assuming that the marriage is falling apart. Some people go so far as to assume extramarital affairs and many other problems. 

But this is not always the case. Take the example of Ralph and Bev Milton. The couple has been married for a grand 62 years. And they have not been shy about seeking the help of marriage counsellors to make the marriage successful. In fact, the couple has been through four seasons of professional counselling in the course of their marriage. 

Ralph was a co-owner of a publishing house that deals with liberal Christian books. On the other hand, his wife Bev served as a United Church minister. 

The couple does not think that seeking professional help in their marriage is easy. The beginning is always the hardest. They also understand that it can be difficult to confess certain things to your partner. 

But they know that the benefits of the counselling are better than the risk of not looking for professional help. The retired couple also believes that there are other important components for a successful marriage.

What are the ingredients for a successful marriage?

According to the Miltons, there are a number of factors that make a marriage successful. These include:

  • Professional marriage counselling – It is one of the most important components of a successful marriage. The Miltons believe that irrespective of the time you spend together as a couple, changes occur in life. It can be personal interests, and children growing up, among others. 

 

All of these changes can affect everyone differently. So professional counselling offers a couple the chance to examine their relationship, evaluate their strengths, and find ways to enrich their relationship even further. 

 

  • Having common interests – Another very essential component of a successful marriage is having common interests. It can be as mundane as cooking, hiking, or enjoying each other’s company. This allows couples to bond more and have a deeper connection with each other.

 

  • A network of friends – The Miltons do not underestimate the value of having meaningful friends in their network. The bigger the network is, the better. 

 

Having a solid network of friends will broaden your relationships. These friends also become indispensable when you face some problems as a couple or as an individual. 

 

  • Cultivate individual interests – Another very important ingredient of a successful marriage is to cultivate individual interests. While it is crucial to spend meaningful time as a couple, it is also essential to spend time away from each other. 

 

This way, you are not always invading each other’s space and getting on each other’s nerves. Spending time away from each other also makes you value the time you spend in each other’s company. 

Final thoughts

Seeking professional counseling can feel similar to starting the marriage all over again. But it shows your commitment to each other. It also reflects how much you are willing to work to make the marriage successful.

Workshop on Community Safety in Kenora 1
Teenage Family Counselling • • By HarmonyBlogger 0 Comments

Workshop on Community Safety in Kenora

On October 18, 2019, a good number of community stakeholders attended a workshop under the banner “Community Safety and Well-Being.” Ever since the legislation of Ontario made it compulsory for municipalities to develop community safety plans, Kenora has been on the forefront by making a lot of changes in the community.

This was noted by the MD of Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention, Felix Munger, who also facilitated the workshop. Kenora’s Community Safety and Well Being Plan was introduced in 2015, way before the mandatory law was introduced.

What topics are discussed in these workshops?

Kenora’s community members are proactively trying to identify the root causes of crimes in the community. In these types of workshop and forum, a wide range of problems and social issues are discussed at length. In this particular workshop, community members focused on these issues:

  • Mental health and addiction – Mr. Munger comments that up to 80% of calls made to the police are related to social disorder. The calls that are crime-related almost always are a result of addiction and/or mental health issues.
  • Youth – Sheri Norlen from the Creighton Youth Centre in Kenora emphasizes the need to connect with young offenders on a personal level. Ignoring their individual needs has a direct link to criminal behaviour. She suggested different measures, which includes child counselling, connecting with family, anger management classes. Through these programs, she hopes to get to the bottom of their criminal behaviours.
  • Housing and poverty
  • Human trafficking/sexual exploitation
  • Violence/victimization

Why does traditional criminal justice not work for young people?

According to data, the traditional criminal justice system is not effective for the young folks. It is because the traditional system primarily involves punishment of some sort and trying to correct the criminal behaviour.

It does not attempt to get to the bottom and isolate the reason behind the criminal activity. Ms. Norlen, who is a manager of services that works with young offenders in the age group of 12 to 18, says that understanding the needs of these erring youngsters as people is the best way to correct the behaviour.

She is of the opinion that most criminal activity has roots that can be traced to family problems as well as poverty. Along with her, the entire community of Kenora hopes to keep their youth in a stable environment through prevention programs as well as workshops. These can be a solace for young offenders to stay sober, regroup and make changes in their lives.