What is Relationship Enhancement Therapy?

Relationship Enhancement Therapy is an approach to couples counseling that focuses on teaching partners skills to communicate better.

RET educates clients about counseling theories, ideas, and skill-building to help partners communicate more openly with one another. RET asserts that having a safe space for partners to express their feelings, admit mistakes, and learn to grow together is vital to the counseling process.

Counselors sometimes use RET for individual couples, but they use it more often in a group counseling setting. Anyone looking to develop their relationships skills can benefit from Relationship Enhancement Therapy.

Your counselor will guide you and your partner to understand the key skills of communicating feelings and listening empathetically to your partner. A critical RET skill is to understand and reflect on what your partner conveys without responding defensively.

Additionally, RET focuses on practicing conflict management skills. Your therapist will work with you and your partner to find out what your specific needs are and understand your patterns of relating to one another, which RET says comes from the way your caregivers related to you in early childhood.