Don’t Divorce: The Importance of Relationship Counseling
Find Help, Hope and Healing at New Horizons Counseling
In today’s fast-paced and often emotionally overwhelming world, couples face a wide range of challenges that can test even the strongest relationships. At New Horizons Counseling, couples have been finding help, hope and healing since 1980. As a nationally recognized counseling program, New Horizons has built a reputation for compassionate, skilled support for relationships in distress. Led by Mark Turansky, a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor and Internationally Certified Recovery Coach, the practice focuses on relationship counseling, addiction recovery, anger management and life coaching. Mark uses a directive, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) approach that emphasizes honest conversation, clear goals and breaking the cycle of long-term conflict.
New Horizons Counseling offers services that go beyond the traditional weekly therapy session. The core offering for couples is the Relationship 911 Workshop, a four-session commitment designed to help identify toxic patterns, improve communication and rebuild connection. Sessions can be spread out or done together as an intensive. New Horizons also offers individual counseling, along with addiction support and coaching, all centered on actionable steps and compassionate guidance.
The key to saving a struggling relationship often lies in when help is sought. Research shows that most couples wait an average of 2.7 years after the first signs of trouble before seeking professional support. By then, the emotional damage has often built up to the point where resolution is far more difficult. Despite this, many couples still delay or avoid counseling entirely. About 50% of divorcing couples report that they never tried counseling, and only 19% sought therapy before separation was seriously considered. These statistics are sobering, especially alongside data showing that couples who do engage in counseling have success rates between 50% and 60%. More specialized forms of couples therapy, such as Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy (IBCT), have shown effectiveness rates approaching 69%.
As social norms shift, counseling is increasingly seen as a proactive relationship skill rather than a last-ditch effort to save a failing marriage. Among Millennials and Gen Z, there is growing recognition of therapy as an emotional investment rather than a sign of weakness. Premarital counseling, once considered optional, is now embraced by 30% to 45% of engaged couples. Younger generations are also more likely to view couples therapy as emotional maintenance, like going to the gym for your relationship. This shift underscores the importance of removing the stigma around seeking help, especially early in a relationship’s decline.
Avoiding or delaying counseling can carry high emotional and financial costs. Divorce still affects approximately 40% to 50% of first marriages, and up to 73% of second and third marriages. The average divorce can cost families $20,000 to $30,000 or more. Beyond the couple, children of divorced parents face elevated risks of behavioral, academic and long-term emotional challenges, which makes ending a relationship without seeking help particularly consequential.
At New Horizons Counseling, the emphasis is not on staying together at all costs, but on creating a safe, nonjudgmental environment where couples can explore whether they can repair what’s broken, or part ways with clarity and compassion. Counseling doesn’t guarantee reconciliation, but it can provide vital tools for communication, conflict resolution, emotional regulation and understanding. Even when couples decide to separate, counseling can help them do so with less hostility and more mutual respect.
Seeking help doesn’t mean admitting failure. It means you are willing to invest in your relationship’s potential, whether to heal it or to bring it to a respectful, informed conclusion. With sessions held by telehealth from the comfort of your own home, New Horizons Counseling welcomes couples wherever they are to take that first courageous step. Call (808) 484-1000 or email newhorizonshawaii@gmail.com to schedule.
If you and your partner are feeling stuck, disconnected or overwhelmed, now is the time to act. A simple commitment to four sessions may be all it takes to change the course of your relationship for the better.