HOW WEDDING THERAPY CAN HELP COUPLES

Couples and their families are turning to therapists who specialize in helping them navigate wedding planning. Some clients need help with a narrow issue, and others want broader emotional support, the New York Times reports. Here’s how such services can help.

1 ‘ I REGRET NOT ELOPING’

Shira Notrika has a sister who bickered with her through every step of planning. Notrika also has MS, so drama often leads to physical strain. “I was regretting not just eloping.” At a particularly troublesome period, an ad popped up for Aisletalk, a counselling service for people planning weddings. Landis Bejar started it after witnessing her sister- in- law and mother- in- law fighting over the fit of a wedding dress.

2 REMOTE SESSIONS TO HELP LEARN COPING SKILLS

For the next few months Bejar and Notrika held calls during which the bride- tobe picked up tips to face the family turmoil without getting so upset. “Landis and I broke down ( my sister’s) behaviours that triggered me, and taught me how to not engage with them.”

3 FAMILY DYNAMICS RISE TO THE SURFACE

“The idea that this has to be the happiest, most blissful time in your life, is clever advertising,” said Jocelyn

Charnas, a Manhattan psychologist who offers services to brides and grooms. Many problems they face involve family dynamics that have been embedded for a long time. “These problems aren’t as simple as bridal magazines make them out to be,” Bejar adds. “There aren’t seven simple things you can do to reduce this kind of stress.” She now offers services for individuals, couples or their families. When some are not as open to seeking help, having coping skills can help.

4 GROOMS NEED HELP, TOO

Allison Moir- Smith, a psychotherapist in the Boston area, has since 2002 run a wedding therapy practice she calls Emotionally Engaged. Now she has a service for parents of brides and grooms. “There is so much pain parents feel,” she said.

She is also working with more grooms. “It’s a growing part of my business.”

5 GREAT SOCIAL MEDIA EXPECTATIONS

One of the issues Charnas is helping brides and grooms contend with is social media. “It exacerbates the expectations of looking a certain way, of having the same wedding Meghan Markle had.”