7 Free Couples Therapy Exercises You May Like To Try
These exercises will help you improve your communication, respect and appreciation for each other.
- Walk like each other: Take turns walking and watching and then copying each others way of walking. See what it feels to be each other.
- I am not a mind reader: Both take some notepaper and what down what you imagine would be your ideal vacation. Go into detail about what you would see, do, eat and so on. Then read out what you have written down.
- Merge your goals: Thinking about what each of you think would be great for a vacation, try and come up with a vacation plan that would satisfy both of your desires. For example, a base location that you can go on adventures to places that each of you would enjoy or alternating the type of food you eat each day. For example, if one of you loves the beach and the other the mountains - find a place that has mountains near the beach so you can spend one day on the sand and the next trekking.
- Repeat what I say: In this exercise you take turns expressing issues you think you need to resolve in order to help your relationship grow. You have 2 minutes maximum to say what you think. Then your partner has to repeat it in their own words. Don't try and find solutions. The exercise is just to make sure you both understand each other.
- Calculate your value: Get a calculator. Write down each household chore you have each done this week (e.g. taking out the trash). Work out what it would cost if you paid someone $30 an hour to do it. Decide how to do it differently next week to make sure you both spend the same about of time doing chores.
- Plan your finances: Write down a plan of how much you intend to spend each week on basics, little pleasures like going out to dinner or to a movie and saving for future goals like that dream vacation or deposit on a condo. What can you do to make it easier to achieve your financial goals (e.g. can you take leftovers for lunch)? Be careful not to stop each other from having what you value as a treasured pleasure each week.
- Express gratitude: What are three things you grateful for in terms of your partner? It can be as simple as being grateful that your partner drops you at the train station each morning.
If you find that doing these couples therapy exercises brings up issues that you can't easily resolve at home, don't be distressed. We have excellent couples counselors that can help you to discuss things further and find solutions to issues that are stopping you from growing closer to one another. Just use the contact form below or call us to schedule an appointment.