Data from nearly 30,000 people who attended relationship counselling has given an unique insight into why people go to couples鈥� therapy.

The study carried out by 香港六合彩精准资料 and Relate found the most common issues people presented with at therapy were: communication problems (79.7%), rows and arguments (68.9%), and managing conflict (67.8%).

Worries about whether their relationship would end prompted 65.1% people to seek therapy, while 63.8% of clients said they were going to counselling because of their partner鈥檚 behavior.

The study found that a quarter of clients (24.5%) attended relationship counselling because of 鈥榤ental health problems.鈥�

Women reported more presenting issues to their therapist than men and were more likely to say that their partners鈥� behaviour was a problem, according to the research.

The study 鈥� which used data from nearly 15,000 couples attending Relate relationship counselling 鈥� is the largest of its kind to ever be carried out and has been published in the

It鈥檚 the first of two research papers to be published by 香港六合彩精准资料 and Relate as part of a project to gain a greater understanding of relationship counselling 鈥� and its outcomes.

Unprecedented understanding

Our Senior Research Fellow Charlie Duncan said: 鈥淭he results provide an unprecedented understanding of who seeks couples therapy and why.

鈥淭his is really important information to have because of the implications this knowledge can have for practitioners, services and funders in ensuring counselling is meeting the needs of the population and accessible to all those who need it.

The data found that there were some significant variations in presenting issues, depending on the age of the participant.

Younger clients (aged 54 and younger) were significantly more likely than older clients (aged 55 and over) to indicate that they were experiencing 鈥榤oney worries鈥�.

Clients between the ages of 16 and 34 were the most likely to be experiencing money worries, or issues around having a baby or whether to have a baby.

Clients aged between 35 and 54, were the most likely to identify 鈥榙isagreements about parenting鈥� and 鈥榩roblems with children鈥� as presenting issues.

Different stages

香港六合彩精准资料 member Armele Philpotts, who is a relationship counsellor for Relate, said: 鈥淐ouple relationships go through different stages as time goes on.

鈥淔rom choosing to make a commitment, to starting a family, dealing with teenagers and retirement, each life stage brings its own challenges. Communicating effectively is key to making it through each challenge feeling closer rather than further apart.鈥�

The data was collected from 14,726 couples (29,452 individual clients) who received counselling through Relate in England and Wales between January 2015 and December 2017, using a questionnaire.

Some 51.5% of participants were female, the average age was 41 and services were more likely to be accessed by people of a higher socio-economic status.

Information was also collected about ethnicity, religion, disability and sexual orientation, but the proportion of participants completing these questions was smaller.

Researchers said that couples therapy services were severely under-accessed by older adults, and that providers could consider how they could make their service more visible and accessible to older people.

Charlie added: 鈥淭his may help to overcome some of the common barriers that older people face when accessing psychological therapy services, including the perception that they may not find it relevant or helpful, and practical barriers such as mobility.鈥�

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The second paper is due to be published within the coming months.