Marriage counseling or “couples therapy” is a term used to describe a type of counseling that a couple participates in to help them overcome problems in their relationships to avoid separation or divorce. Today, people view divorce as something that commonly occurs between married couples who have difficulty maintaining a relationship with their spouse. Over the past thirty years, the phrase, “fifty percent of marriages end in divorce,” seems to have been ingrained in people's mindsets because it has become extremely common to encounter people who have gone through one or more divorces. Divorce or separation not only affects couples, but also their children. Having a strong family plays an important role in children's lives and is crucial to their mental well-being. A report by a team of senior academics for DailyMail UK found that “the damage caused to a child by divorce continues to blight their life into old age” and that “parental separation in childhood has been consistently associated with psychological distress in adulthood in the first thirty years". The report not only shows that children are affected by the effects of divorce, but also suggests that as divorce and separation continue to become more common in society, the effects they have on children's mental health are not diminishing. In the 1970s, divorce was considered taboo; the topic was completely avoided in the discussion or was almost never addressed. Since divorce is so common today, it seems that people almost never pay attention to it and consider it a quick fix to a serious problem in their relationship. People are so exposed to the concept of divorce/separation that once they feel dissatisfied… middle of paper… see if same sex couples have a higher separation rate than heterosexual couples. One of the immediate steps needed to reduce divorce and separation within couples would be to not rush into marriage at an early age. Statistics have shown that younger couples are at greater risk of divorce. Before marrying someone, couples should make sure they have effective communication with each other and feel comfortable enough with each other that they can address problems together rather than individually. Additionally, one step that can help reduce divorce should be to make counseling more readily available to couples. Usually when we think of counseling we think of it with a negative connotation, but if people are more informed about the benefits of counseling they will be more likely to seek it. Sources: Dr. Meyer, Catherine F. Personal interview. December 14th. 2014