Resource Discovery: Relationship Challenges and Counseling for Military Couples

By: Jason Jowers

Military couples are very resilient and roll with the changes. They face many challenges that civilian couples rarely deal with, like multiple moves, deployments, and various other transitions. Challenges might also take the form of physical injury or invisible wounds of war, like traumatic brain injury, and PTSD. Sometimes spouses and children must take on caregiver roles as well.

Even though there are similar issues that many military couples face, every relationship is different. And many couples can benefit from relationship counseling services. These resources can help military couples thrive by providing a safe, stigma-free space to share their struggles and triumphs.

Military Couples and Relationship Resources

Military OneSource has a hub specifically for working on relationship goals called “Rekindle, Repair, or Reset Your Relationship.” This resource includes simple steps, tools, and drills that can strengthen relationships as well as links to counseling resources for both individuals and couples.
This article from Military OneSource highlights the Military and Family Life Counseling Program which “assists service members, their families, and survivors with flexible non-medical counseling when and where needed.” These MFLC’s offer non-medical counseling for issues such as deployment adjustments, stress management, moving preparations/ getting settled, relationship building, work/coworker conflict, and grief-related issues. Contact your installation’s Military and Family Support Center to get connected with an MFLC today.
Military.com shares this suite of resources for military spouses for info on all the support the military has to offer spouses and military couples. These include transition resources, financial tips, career advice, and military spouse benefits.
The Center for Deployment Psychology (CDP) shares these great links on ways to help and support military couples and families. They include organization links, military child resources, military family books, as well as helpful blogs and apps.
For more on supporting military couples and therapeutic resources, OneOp has been hosting an ongoing “A Close Look at Relationships” webinar series. This series has had two live webinars to kick it off, with three more to go in 2022. Their next webinar will be on Feb. 1^st, 2022, and is entitled “Millennium Cohort Family Study: The Impact of Military Life.” For more on this series, head on over to the series event page.