John and his wife Suzie had been married for 25 years.  Suzie had recently been retrenched and had started a new position that involved travel and long hours. They had also recently experienced a chain of stressful events including the death of two elderly parents, their daughter's divorce, and their son moving overseas. 

John and Suzie had stopped their previously effective communication style as they each attempted to work through the stress in their individual lives. They had always been extremely supportive partners, but the number of stressors had bombarded their existing coping strategies.  They both felt alone and uncertain about how to best support their partner. 

Therapy included individual and couple sessions over six weeks. The psychologist discussed and debriefed on the stressors in their lives, and gave guidance to re-instigate effective communication. Some techniques included removing distractions when trying to communicate, not speaking over each other, and not blaming or labelling. They also discussed stress management strategies and problem solving techniques to increase quality time together.

Given their already close relationship prior, John and Suzie were fortunately able to return to a satisfying relationship.