NHS will provide free marriage guidance

The Telegraph ^ | 11/22/2009 | Laura Donnelly

[markomalley]

Couples are to be offered marriage guidance counselling for free on the NHS, in a move which has drawn strong condemnation from patients and doctors' groups.

Couples with relationship problems will be offered free sessions for up to six months, as part of a £270 million programme to increase the provision of "talking therapies" for the public, Andy Burnham, the health secretary, will announce this week.

Doctors and patients' groups said they were "horrified" by the use of NHS resources for relationship advice when patients with cancer and dementia were being denied treatment they desperately needed.

Mr Burnham will say on Thursday that "when couples hit a rocky patch, a bit of help and support can stop it spiralling out of control".

He will instruct GPs to follow new guidance which says that if relationship problems are causing depression, up to 20 sessions of couples counselling can be offered, over the course of six months.

Currently, most people seeking help from services like Relate pay between £45 and £60 per session, meaning the free counselling packages will be worth around £1,000 per couple.

The NHS is expected to pay existing marriage guidance services, and newly-trained counsellors to provide the therapy.

[markomalley]

I expect the same thing over here in a few months, after Obamacare is signed into law.

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

I can give you all the marriage advice you need... DON”T DO IT!!!!

[Daffynition]

[BobL]

“I can give you all the marriage advice you need... DON”T DO IT!!!!”

Not necessarily. Ideally, try to find a woman born into a family (or a society) that doesn’t look at divorce as simply what you do after marriage...and that pretty much excludes women born in the US.

[tbw2]

Considering their government’s bias against marriage and men, I wouldn’t recommend anyone see their therapist due to the risk to their marriage.