Couples Therapy
& the 3 Secret Stages of Relationships
Couples Therapy teaches partners that every relationship goes through stages. Here’s how to recognize–and deal with–each one.
Couples Therapy teaches partners that every relationship goes through stages. Here’s how to recognize–and deal with–each one.
Couples Therapy Secret Stage #1—Call of the Wild
You see your partner-to-be across a crowded room, and the attraction is immediate. You want to be with each other; you can’t see enough of each other. The experience is a wild ride boosted by a pharmacy of natural chemicals flooding your system. Actually, you find yourself falling for familiar love: your partner reminds you of positive traits of your parents or whomever was important in raising you.
In this stage, you say:
“Something about you seems so familiar.”
“Have we met before?”
“Feels like I’ve always known you.”
Call of the Wild Alert: People in couples counseling know that this stage won’t last. The call of the wild—a transient positive emotion designed to come to an end—lasts for between 6-18 months. Its purpose is to connect and bond two people, making them willing to stay together when things become more difficult in the relationship—as they inevitably will!
Couples Therapy Secret Stage #2 — Call of the Child
Where did our love go? Your partner’s charms are replaced by little differences that annoy you. Soon they aren’t so little. You hope to dispel them, or at least cope with them by arguing and defending yourself. But trying to change or “train” your partner won’t work. You consider couples counseling. During this stage, unresolved issues from childhood resurrect. Couples project onto each other feelings from the times their parents acted poorly and disappointed them.
In this stage, you say:
- “You’re so different! What happened to you?”
- “If you loved me, you’d know what I need!”
- “You tricked me. I was a fool to believe in you!”
Call of the Child Alert: Every long-term couple goes through the call of the child. This stage is also supposed to happen and supposed to end, but lasts longer than the call of the wild. Even though the call of the child makes you feel like you’re with the wrong person, if this is happening, you are in fact with the right one.
Couples Therapy Secret Stage #3 – Call of the Mild
You value each other as you are, not as you might become. Even though you may wish that differences and disagreements would go away, you begin to understand that some will always be there—and you accept them. In this stage, ideally, you learn to give unconditionally, relate non-defensively, and relate with empathy and compassion.
In this stage, you say:
“I love you—warts and all!”
“We are different—and that’s okay!”
Call of the Mild Alert: To revive the love of call of the wild and bring romance back into your relationship, your couples counselor might suggest you surprise your partner by doing the same things you did during the beginning of your relationship. That will remind you both of the old times when things were new and exciting—and let you feel how your love has endured.
