Marriage counselling
Marriage Counselling When You Do Not Know Where to Start
Marriage counselling that gives you tools you can use this week, not just space to talk. Structured 6 to 12 week programme, online from anywhere in the UK.
5.0 across 45+ verified reviews · 20+ years experience · Sessions online from anywhere in the UK
5.0 ★
45+ verified reviews on Bark and Google
20+ years
Skills, qualifications and experience
Online
UK wide and international, via Zoom
If you are searching for marriage counselling
Marriage counselling that hands you tools, not platitudes
Marriage counselling is what most people in the UK type into Google when they have run out of ideas at home. Marriage counseling (US spelling), marriage help, marriage support, marriage care, marriage council near me. The spelling varies. The feeling underneath does not.
You are probably here because the last conversation did not go well. Or the last six months have felt like a polite house-share. Or someone said the word divorce out loud and you cannot quite un-hear it.
am Stephen Bradshaw, a Diploma-qualified Professional Coach with 20+ years of relevant experience. I work with couples and with individuals on their own marriages. This page is here to give you a clearer head before you book anything.
Before I say anything else
My wife and I needed marriage counselling too
A few months after our son was born, my wife Nikki and I were in real trouble. The combination of postnatal depression and exhaustion and me retreating into work meant we stopped really talking to each other. We were polite. We were efficient. We were not a couple.
There were two weeks in December 2016 where I genuinely did not know whether we would still be married a year later. I share that because almost every couple I have worked with since has thought, at some point, that they were the only ones quietly thinking that thought.
You are not the only ones. What turned it around was learning a couple of frameworks that gave us a shared language for what was happening and a way to actually do something with it.
Three honest steps before you book any marriage counselling
Whether you end up working with me or not, these are the three I walk people through on a discovery call.
Most of our work falls into a few areas.
01
Be honest about where you really are
There is a big difference between a marriage in a rough patch and a marriage in real trouble. Sit with the question, “if nothing changes in the next 12 months, will I still be in this marriage?”. Your gut answer is the data point that matters.
02
Stop trying to recruit your partner before you start
A lot of marriages get stuck because one person spends six months trying to convince the other to come to marriage counselling. If your partner is not on board, that is information, not a full stop. You can start as one person.
03
Look for marriage counselling that gives you tools, not just space to talk
Open-ended talk is comforting, but it rarely fixes a long-term relationship. Marriage counselling that works gives you frameworks (attachment, Gottman, transactional analysis, trigger and grounding work), and homework to make them stick.
What good marriage counselling looks like
Watch a short message before you book
Watch a short message about how this work actually feels in the room. Couples who have tried Relate, private counsellors or talk therapy describe this as the part that finally clicked.
Real client reviews
What couples say after marriage counselling with me
★★★★★
“Stephen has made a much bigger difference in my marriage than me or my wife could have hoped for. Like most I was sceptical but things have never been better, me and my wife are more in love than ever.”
Rhys Goodwin, Bark
★★★★★
“We were nearly done in our relationship. With Stephen’s help we are rebuilding our relationship. We reference back to the things we have been taught.”
Cath Cannon, Bark
★★★★★
“Stephen has helped us to understand each other better, how we can communicate more effectively, and how to avoid the negative cycle we had been in for close on 2 years.”
Russell, Bark
Common questions
If yours is not here, the discovery call is the right place to ask.
Is it too late to get marriage counselling?
It is almost never too late, as long as both of you (or one of you working alone) are genuinely willing to do the work. I have had couples certain they were at the end walk out the other side feeling like a team again.
My partner will not come to sessions. Can I still get marriage counselling?
Yes. Roughly a third of my clients start as individuals. The work still moves the dynamic, because the dynamic is two people responding to each other. Change one side and the other side has to respond differently.
How much does marriage counselling cost?
The full programme is £1,000 for a bespoke 6 to 12 week package, with fortnightly payments available. Includes all live sessions, the resource library and unlimited messaging support between sessions.
Is there marriage counselling near me?
All sessions are online over Zoom, so “near me” is wherever you have a laptop and a quiet hour. Clients are across the UK and internationally.
Related reading on this site
Choose the closest fit to what you actually need.
Relationship Counselling
Honest relationship counselling, structured coaching, the difference it makes when both of you (or one of you) shows up to do the work.
Couples Therapy
Specialist couples therapy for long-term partners stuck in the same argument. Solution-focused, science-based, in person or online.
Coaching vs Counselling
The honest difference between coaching, counselling and therapy. Work out the right kind of help before you spend money.
Ready for a real conversation?
Book a free 45 minute discovery call. It is a conversation, not a pitch. I will ask you what is going on, you can ask me anything, and we will both know by the end.
~ Steve