I engaged with Mr. Trimble for couple counselling some time ago and would definitely not repeat it.
First, I'd like to acknowledge that maybe no one would have been able to help. I know I wasn't exactly super keen on continuing that relationship. Second, some people may benefit from different approaches and maybe what didn't work in our case would have worked with others.
However, I also think that, as in all professions, there are people who are more skilled at it than others. At the prices charged and given the importance of counselling in avoiding breakups, you better find someone that is good at it, not just someone who has the diploma.
My gripe is simple. We were both at fault in our relationship. While I was willing to acknowledge some of my wrongs and apologize, my partner would never admit to any wrong doing. Always had a convenient excuse for everything.
I believe a better counsellor would have called on it. Just because that type of one-way guilt (not involving adultery) is unlikely. Not openly discussing the underlying issues is simple when one partner's concerns are systematically dismissed by the other. After _lots_ of sessions my partner's core issue eventually surfaced, inadvertently and certainly not because of any insightful counseling.
When I told one of my best friends we were splitting, he wanted to refer me to his second counsellor, the one that had saved his marriage. He told me his first counsellor had been less than useful. This is just how I felt. I didn't care by this point, and to be honest I was and am still relieved we broke up. Maybe a better counsellor would have been a bad thing, in a way.
But that doesn't change the fact that Mr. Trimble just doesn't seem the type to ask hard questions. More the "tell me about how this makes you feel" type. Btw, we had a different counsellor later who was way better at keeping us both in line. read more