Needing marriage help is not something to be ashamed of. Looking for it is a sign of a good foundation in the marriage and gives a couple hope and strength to fortify what has already been created between them.
Love. It's what exhilarates us to the highest points we can experience in life. It is also what causes us the deepest pains we can ever know. What can be harder to discern than the human heart? So many of us get started in love on the wrong foot. Let's be honest, most of us thought that the dreamy floating on a cloud feelings we experienced when we met our mates is what "love" was. We couldn't believe that we could experience that type of emotion, and after a short time we felt there was no way we could live without that feeling in our lives. So, we opened ourselves to the commitment and got married. We didn't know that those feelings come and go and come again and go again and come again...now we find ourselves wondering how we lost those feelings and whether or not we can remain happy in a marriage that now feels dry and rote. We need the advice of an experienced person who has been through these hard times and has come through them successfully, but we may feel embarrased about seeking professional marriage help.
Others of us have a more informed understanding of what love is. We were prepared to choose the best interests of our spouse above our own, and trusted that if our spouses reciprocated, all would work out. True as this is, the imperfections of ourselves and our partners crept up on us and we found ourselves hurting and being hurt more than we ever intended. Suddenly, what felt so secure and strong feels as though it could crumble. Maybe we have long been looked upon as the model of a mature and "perfect" marriage. We can feel that we must avoid the shame of needing marriage help from a professional. This is precisely what we must not do if we would have our marriages restored to that healthy and happy place.
What we all need is the humility to realise that we are all human. Some of us may be more intellectually mature than others. Some may be more emotionally secure than others, but we are all human. We all sometimes need help navigating the maze of love. The benefits of having an experienced counselor who has himself or herself shown the ability to navigate marriages challenges in his or her own relationship can not be overstated. An objective, compassionate ear and the wisdom of experience can help us regain that perspective so many of us tend to lose sight of along the way.