An hour of marriage counseling costs as much as a ticket to Disneyland.
Think about that for a second.
That’s expensive!
Now Disneyland may not care how you spend the time once you’re in but as a counselor I do so here’s a suggestion.
Come prepared.
Come prepared with what you want to work on and where you want to go and hit the ground running.
I know in the outside world it’s polite to say hi and ask someone how they’ve been since you last saw them – don’t ask me that.
Really, it’s not rude to just dive in and and start talking about yourself.
The guys in the Dixieland band know you’re there to take pictures with Mickey & Minnie, not with them.
And, you don’t have to spend time making small talk about how things are going well.
You can do that at home or on date night and you’re not here for the things that are going well and that are easy.
If you skirt around the issue/s that’s like hanging out in the Tiki Room or on the Small World ride all day when what you really wanted to do is Space Mountain or Indiana Jones.
And if you wait till the last hour at Disneyland (or 10 min in counseling) to bring up what you want/need you may find out your spouse really wants to go to the Haunted House or Pirates and there’s not enough time to do it all.
And now someone is going to miss out on what they were hoping for. And it won’t seem as fun or awesome as you wanted it to be.
So, if you’re in the waiting room or in the car ride over, start talking, imagine you’re getting to the gates early and strategize like it’s you vs. the rest of the world.
Visualize sprinting, hand-in-hand, to the back of the park and being the very first people in line at Space Mountain. VICTORY!!
You might even have the time to do 2-3 rides on it before you feel sick and need a break.
Once you tackle the hard stuff you won’t feel guilty/avoidant for going on Peter Pan or Dumbo and you can leisurely enjoy your pineapple whip and the rest of the time.
Then again, you can always pick up right where you left off the next week. 😀
Great tips! I also say in my sessions with couples “Is this what you do at home? Is this how you argue? Why do you want to pay me to do what you do at home? Let’s do something different.” It seems to work.
That’s excellent John, I say something similar but that’s better, right to the point.