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FAQs:
What is Couples Counseling?
Couples counseling, also known as marriage counseling, is a type of counseling for intimate partners. It involves the exploration of any conflicts between the partners, is often short-term, and focuses on specific problems. Other goals of couples counseling are to improve communication and interactions and to strengthen relationships. Couples counseling is sometimes referred to as couples therapy or marriage therapy, but the terms "therapy" and "counseling," actually, are different.
How Does Couple Counseling Work?
Couples counseling involves conversations between romantic partners and a professional who provides counseling. They will generally discuss a specific problem or issue that is the reason for seeking counseling, as well as goals for working together. The process then involves strategies and learning skills to improve the relationship, such as communication skills, problem-solving skills, and strategies for discussing differences and overcoming problems together.
What is the Success Rate of Couples Counseling?
Couple counseling is much more effective today than 30 years ago. On average, counseling had only a 50% success rate back in the 1980s, meaning half of the couples that took the counselor’s help would end up signing a divorce at the end. Even if the therapists helped strengthen the romantic relationship, it wouldn’t last long. No wonder why people are so skeptical about marriage counseling. Counseling has evolved today. Therapists follow Gottman Approach and Emotion-Focused Therapy, which has a 75% success rate. The overall success rate of couple counseling in the United States is 98%. This clearly shows how couple therapies can help save a marriage. However, the effectiveness of counseling also depends on the counselor’s experience and professionalism.
Is Couples Counseling Worth It?
Couples should seek therapy long before they think they “need” to. Most experts believe that therapy can be an important part of your relationship. “Most issues within a couple start small and then grow in size when they don’t get resolved. This is where therapy can help, by giving tools and techniques to improve conflict resolution,” explained Kristie Overstreet, a licensed mental health counselor. “The majority of couples that I work with say that they should have started therapy years earlier.”
“There are three sides to every story: his side, her side, and the truth,” psychotherapist Kimberly Resnick Anderson agreed. “An objective third party can be just the ticket when couples feel they can no longer communicate effectively.”
Rather than viewing therapy as the solution to a crisis, look at it as an integral aspect of a healthy life, suggested Ashley N. Grinonneau-Denton, marriage and family therapist.
“Every couple should take preventive measures to maintain health in their relationship, just like going to the gym,” she said. “If couples don’t work their relational and emotional ‘muscles,’ they become un-toned, weak and create more of a chance of damage being done to their relationship.”
How Much Does Couples Counseling Cost?
In general, couples counseling costs between $100-200 per hour. Given that most professional couples counselors offer 90-minute sessions for couples, that means you'll pay between $150 and $300 for each one-and-a-half-hour couples counseling session. The cost of couples counseling varies widely depending on which city and state you're in. Many couples counselors also offer sliding scale rates to eligible clients, where the per-session rate is determined by your household income or the size of your family. This can help some couples fit counseling into their budget without breaking the bank. It's worth asking your therapist if they offer sliding scale fees.
Does Insurance Cover Couples Counseling?
First, it’s important to note that insurance coverage for couples therapy varies depending on the individual policy and insurance provider. Some insurance plans may cover couples therapy, while others may not. Generally, we have found that most plans cover it, but unfortunately some insurance plans play games with clients and will say they cover “family counseling” but not “couples counseling.” The billing code is exactly the same for both terms and is determined by the American Medical Association NOT the insurance companies. This code is defined as two or more people in the therapy office working on relational issues (Sounds like couples therapy fits to me!) Insurance plans do not have the right to define the codes as this is determined by medical professionals and based on medical necessity. So generally speaking, most plans do cover couples counseling—even if the insurance representative on the phone tells you they don’t.
Types of Couples Counseling
There are different approaches to couples counseling. The approach used may depend on the couple, their challenges and goals, and the training of the provider. Additionally, multiple approaches may be used with the same couple or in the same session.
1. A behavioral approach to counseling considers the environment and how it reinforces or impacts thoughts and behaviors to guide changes that benefit the couple.
2. A humanistic approach to couples counseling focuses on bringing awareness to the uniqueness of the individuals to achieve goals.
3. An integrative approach to couples counseling uses multiple methods to serve the needs of the couple and the situation.
4. A psychodynamic approach to couples counseling considers influences from the past to bring increased awareness to dynamics that are impacting the couple in the present in order to facilitate change.
10 Reasons to Start Couples Counseling
These are the top reasons to see a couples therapist–and how counseling can help:
1. You want better communication and less fights.
While couples will never see eye-to-eye on everything, if arguments are happening more frequently and causing significant distress in the relationship, it may be time to work with a counselor. Couples counseling can help address underlying issues in the relationship. Your therapist can help you practice new ways of connecting–even when you disagree, leading to less fights and higher relationship satisfaction.
2. You want to deepen your emotional connection.
When couples are falling in love, they often spend significant time getting to know each other, leading to a strong emotional connection. As life goes on and work, kids and other responsibilities get in the way, couples may have less time to connect with each other. If this is happening for you, you may feel lonely and unsupported within your relationship. Couples counseling can help you reconnect and prioritize each other, leading to better emotional intimacy and secure attachment.
3. You want to improve your sex life and physical intimacy.
If you are dissatisfied with your sex life, you might be feeling frustrated, alone, rejected or unhappy. To complicate matters, many couples feel uncomfortable and nervous broaching the topic. A couples therapist can help you and your partner discuss your sexual concerns, desires, expectations and unmet needs in a supportive way that can help you get the sex lives you want.
4. You want help talking about a tough/touchy topic.
Sex isn’t the only topic that can be hard to bring up with a partner. If there is something important to you, but you are having a hard time discussing it in your relationship, a couples therapist can help you address and work through the issue in a supportive environment.
5. You want to rebuild trust.
There are many ways for trust to be lost in a relationship: small lies add up, broken promises hurt, and infidelity can tear a relationship apart. It’s possible to rebuild trust when both partners are committed to the process of improving their relationship. A couples counselor can help you rebuild a secure and satisfying relationship.
6. You are getting married & you want your marriage to last.
More and more couples are seeing premarital counseling as an important and valuable investment in their future. With as many as 50% of marriages ending in divorce, taking time in the beginning of your marriage to set intentions for your life together and start building traditions can be incredibly rewarding. Find a couples therapist who you connect with and this process can be both valuable–and fun!
7. You want to reduce stress associated with parenthood.
Becoming parents can be both incredibly rewarding and incredibly stressful. So stressful, in fact, that research shows that the average relationship takes a big dip in relationship satisfaction from the time the first child is born until the youngest child leaves the home. If you are noticing a strain on your relationship during new parenthood–this is totally normal, but there are ways to improve happiness in the relationship. If you want to reduce the stress and learn better ways to cope and support each other, a couples counselor can help.
8. You need help supporting each other through grief, health problems, or life changes.
The loss of a loved one, infertility, a miscarriage, health problems and major life changes can all be incredibly hard to experience. Both individuals in the relationship may be experiencing their own pain, loss, confusion or sadness, leaving it hard to support their partner. A couples counselor can support you and help you move through your difficult time.
9. You want to be healthier and live longer.
Did you know that an unhappy marriage can increase your chances of getting sick by about 35% and can even shorten your lifespan by about 4 years? Research has also shown that a healthy marriage can lower occurrences of pneumonia, heart attacks and even cancer. The chronic stress associated with unhappy relationships has significant physiological consequences, so improving your relationship in couples counseling may even improve your health.
10. You want to improve other areas of your life such as work or leisure activities.
Benefits of a secure bond with your partner include increased confidence, more assertiveness, improved learning abilities, decreased chance of depression and mental illness, and better resiliency. With improvement in your relationship, you will notice improvement in many areas of your life.
Benefits of Couples Counseling
If your relationship is in trouble, or even if it's fine, but there may be a few kinks, couple's therapy can help fix many of your relationship issues and put the fire back in your relationship. Here are just a few reasons why couple's therapy can benefit you.
1. Helps To End Miscommunications
Miscommunications can tear apart a relationship. Even though the two of you are joined at the hip, you both have your way of communicating. Sometimes, you may think you communicated your point, and then it turns out that the partner didn't understand what you meant.
2. Helps To End A Lack Of Communication
Sometimes, the problems come because of a lack of communication. Some couples do not communicate with each other often. Maybe they are tired from work. Perhaps they feel like there's nothing to say. You may feel like this is harmless, but it may lead to the couple drifting apart.
3. Can Deescalate Arguments
One reason why arguments rarely end well is that of human nature. Everyone wants to be right and get the last word in. Everyone wants to escalate the argument to spite the other. Cool heads prevail, but in most fights, both heads are on fire. Neither wants to listen, but instead, show the other that they're right.
4. It Can Help Reunite The Flame
You're never going to be as passionate as you were when you two were young and first dating. However, you shouldn't have any passion, either. There was a reason the two of you are passionate, and by finding it, you can reignite the flame that keeps the passion going. A counselor can help you to relive why you were so attracted to your partner in the first place.
5. Counseling Can Help You With Your Children
Often, the reason couples argue when they are parents is disagreements on how to raise their children. One parent may be stricter than the other, and there may be debates because of that. The answer is usually somewhere in the middle, and a therapist can help the couple find parenting solutions that both can agree on.
6. Counseling Can Solve Infidelity Issues
One of the biggest blows to a relationship is infidelity. You are supposed to be connected to your partner for life, but one of you cheated. Instead of ending the relationship, you two have decided to figure out why it happened and what can be done to prevent it next time. While infidelity is serious, a counselor can be able to resolve the issue and put it behind the couple. Even cheating is no match for the most experienced counselor.
7. It Can Resolve Financial Issues
Many relationships fail due to finances. One person may be spending their money in a way their partner doesn't approve of. There may be a change in finances that affect the relationship, such as an injury or another job. Even petty disagreements such as what kind of groceries a partner buys can blow up in each other's faces.
8. It Can Allow You To View Things from Your Partner's Perspective
In our story, we are the hero. This mentality makes it hard for us to view things from the other side. In a fight, it's hard to show empathy and look at the event from your partner's perspective. By looking at it through the lens of your partner, you may realize that there is more nuance to this argument. While your partner may not be entirely in the right, you may realize that you weren't, either. A therapist can teach you how to look at the argument from both sides.
9. More Than Just Romantic Couples
When it comes to couple's therapy, you don't need to be married or in a relationship with someone to benefit from it.
10. Not Just For Fighting Couples
Therapy for couples is commonly viewed as a last resort, but that is not always the case. a therapist can check for issues that can be fixed now rather than having the issue blow up in each other's face later on down the road.
11. Sometimes, It Can Fix The Relationship By Ending It
Many relationships that are on the rocks can be fixed. However, there are always those relationships that are doomed to fail. The two of you just aren't compatible, or you just cannot reach a compromise when it comes to your differences. You may think that couple's therapy that ends in breakup means that the therapy has failed, but this isn't the case at all. The therapist can teach the two of you how to end the relationship amicably.
How to Know if Couples Counseling Works For You
The exact signs of success in marriage counseling vary from couple to couple depending on what their relationship needs, but common green flags are:
1. Your Relationship Is Healing
This is the big one. Most couples go into therapy together because they want their relationship to work, but they’re not sure how to get there on their own. Healing starts with communication. Another sign that couples therapy is working is that you feel more affection for your partner again. When the hard work of relationships takes priority—whether that’s paying bills, raising kids, operating a family business, maintaining a home, or anything else—it’s easy for attraction to take a backseat. You may feel more like coworkers than romantic partners. When you start to feel that connection come back, you know your relationship is on the right path. You can see this through small changes like performing small acts of kindness for each other, flirting, and making time for emotional and physical intimacy.
2. Willingness To Attend Therapy Sessions
Therapy is hard, and if you’re there to discuss what isn’t going right in your relationship, it usually isn’t fun. But if you and your partner are making progress, it’s easier to attend those appointments, even knowing that they will challenge you. The hard conversations, the self-reflection, and the reevaluation of roles are paying off.
3. You Can Acknowledge Both the Good and the Bad of the Relationship
Even the healthiest relationships have their mix of good and bad. Part of the healing process is being able to acknowledge both without ignoring the other. For example, if you do all of the household chores, it’s easy to complain that your partner doesn’t contribute at all, and therefore conclude they aren’t putting enough into the relationship. But at the same time, your partner also works long hours to provide for your family and plans major trips. Instead of just labeling them as lazy, it’s important to acknowledge that they also work hard on different tasks. Then you could seek a compromise where your partner helps more around the house daily, while you participate more in planning vacations.
4. You Are Willing To Do the Work—During Sessions and at Home
Opening up to your partner is hard. It’s even harder when someone else is in the room with you—at least at the beginning. It takes courage to be vulnerable, and that step alone is a good sign that your couples therapy is off to a promising start.
5. You Like Working with Your Marriage Counselor
Your marriage counselor can make or break your healing process. If they’re not doing their job well, sessions could turn into shouting matches and you leave feeling worse than when you showed up. On the other hand, the signs of a good couples therapist are that they help each person take responsibility for their feelings and set boundaries.
What to Expect from Your First Couples Counseling Session
It’s understandable that you and your partner might hesitate to walk through the therapist’s door. What kind of questions will they ask? What if you are not comfortable sharing your personal information? What if your issues escalate instead of resolving? It’s better if you know the counselor or have had therapies before.
The first session is pretty casual. They will ask you to sign the documents explaining the policies and legalities of work. Once the paperwork is done, they will ask basic questions like how many years you have been married, how you met, what has changed now, and what you expect from your partners. They will get to know you individually and as a couple. The first few sessions are all about your personal lives.
Some couples may consider pre-marital counseling to know if their relationship is strong enough to take the next big step. Others may seek professional help after experiencing problems that may have threatened their relationship, such as infidelity. Other issues like lack of communication, a feeling that your partner is hiding something, frequent arguments, lack of trust, or problems in your sex life can also drive people to a counselor.
You don’t need to have problems in your relationship to consider counseling. Some couples attend therapies to ensure seamless interaction and continue to share the same bond. People feel uncomfortable having a talk about intimacy with a stranger. However, the therapist knows when is a good time to discuss your intimate issues. Your therapist’s office is a safe and confidential place where you can share your marriage details. You can be honest with your therapist and tell them what you feel. Therapists listen to both of you, understand your pain points, and observe your body language.
How to Prepare for a Couples Counseling Session
Now that we know that mutually opting for counseling is the biggest and the most important first step in preparing for couples counseling. Let’s see 10 ways to get ready for your first couples counseling session:
1. Searching for The Right Counselor:
Once you and your partner have decided to seek couples counseling, the next step for you two would be finding the counselor. And not just any counselor, but the one with whom you both would feel comfortable while talking and sharing. It is important to check your comfort level, so you may want to discuss the following points with each other to come to a decision- gender of the counselor, qualifications of the counselor, preference for online or in-person counseling, an area in which the counselor has their office (for you to commute there every week), charges of the counselor, etc. It may become difficult to check all the criteria in the list to find the counselor, so make the list according to your priority and shortlist just 2 important criteria, by discussing mutually, and then start your search. Your search may become easier if you ask for references from a counselor from your friends/ family members. But if you want to keep it completely confidential then you can start your search online too!
2. Mark Your Calendars
Once you find the counselor with whom you would like to start the counseling sessions, the next step would be to book the session. You may contact the counselor or their office and check their session booking system. Once you get the appointment, make sure that you and your partner mark that date on your calendars and set a reminder. It is a fast-paced world with tons of work and responsibilities that everybody has to shoulder. It may happen that because of work or other things, you may forget your appointment and then you may have to wait for another couple of days to make a new one. To avoid this, set reminders for all your sessions in advance.
3. Discuss Your Goals In Advance
Before the first session of therapy, have a discussion between you and your partner regarding the expectations or the goals that you two wish to achieve through therapy. You can ask each other questions like-
- Where do you both stand in the relationship currently and where do you want to be in the future with the help of therapy?
- How do you want to grow as a couple in this relationship?
- How do you manage the conflicts currently and how would you like to manage them instead of current patterns?
- Where do you stand currently when it comes to intimacy and boundaries?
- You can add more questions related to the issues that you are facing in your romantic relationship and also write down the goal that you wish to reach post-therapy.
4. Make A List
While you are in the session, it so happens that in the flow of talking, you may miss or forget to talk about other important points too which you may remember once you reach home! Hence it is recommended that you and your partner make a list of points, individually, that you wish to discuss with your therapist. Carry this list to your first session and later on you both can keep adding points that come to your mind as therapy progresses.
5. Keep An Open Mind
Going to therapy can feel overwhelming. Opening up to a stranger with private information about your romantic relationship can seem a bit intimidating. It is okay to not tell the counselor everything in the first session. But keep an open mind about counseling, and trust the process, and then you will feel more secure and you will also start noticing the change that you wished to see. Always keep in mind, that the counselor knows their professional ethics and your information will be completely confidential and you will get a safe space to share anything and everything!
6. It’s Okay To Be Nervous
If pre-marital counseling is going to be your first experience with counseling or therapy, then we understand that you may get nervous when it comes to you attending the first few sessions. Therapy can feel daunting at first. Some of you may know what you want to work on with the help of therapy and some of you may not know where to start from or what areas to work on and both these situations may cause anxiety. But do not take a step back because of your nervousness or anxiety because these feelings could be a sign of you opening up to yourself and working on yourself to be better. Give yourself some time to get acquainted with the process and see how the anxiety or nervousness calms down on its own!
7. Get Ready To Share Personal History
Usually, the first session of counseling is focused on clients sharing the issues that they are facing. In couples counseling, the counselor will give both individuals a chance to talk about the issues, from their individual perspectives, to get to know what has happened and where both of them stand in the present. Some of the counselors may start with case-history taking in the first session itself, some may take it in the second session. Case-history taking helps the counselor to understand how the clients are individually and also how they are as a couple. This helps the therapist to plan further sessions.
8. Be Honest
The entire process of therapy will be helpful when you decide to be vulnerable and honest. It helps because it shows that no matter how hard or dark the past or the present is you are willing to work on it and bring in the change to improve the areas which are causing the distress. You are also encouraged to be honest with the counselor about their approach. If at any point you feel that therapy isn’t leading where you expected it to go or progress, or that the counselor’s approach for your case isn’t helping you much, then please communicate it with your counselor.
9. Know About The Process
If you are someone who is going in for therapy for the first time, then it could be that you may not know how the process of counseling takes place or how the process works. At such times, ask your counselor about it. It will help you to understand how the counselor can help you during the sessions, your responsibilities and rights as clients, and much more. Knowing about the process will help you to build trust in it and then it will work wonders!
10. Commit To The Process
Last but not least, counseling isn’t one session thing. A lot of clients drop out of therapy after the first session because they expect that only one session is enough. But counseling is a process that takes a few sessions and some time for you to see the changes, so commit to the process. Do not leave the process on your own without consulting your counselor. Own the responsibility of completing the process and keep working on yourself!
What Happens in a Couples Counseling Session
Generally speaking, both people in the relationship will attend a couples counselling session together, at least initially. This is to help establish an association with the couples counsellor that is clearly about the couple and their relationship. Some relationship counsellors and indeed some clients then find it beneficial to see the counsellor individually, in turn, before meeting up again as a couple. Some relationship counsellors will only ever see their couples clients when they attend together. If you are in these circumstances, but you have a particular issue that primarily affects you as an individual, such as depression or an addiction, then your couples counsellor might suggest you see another psychologist or clinician for individual therapy to attend to that particular issue.
Usually a session of couples counselling is a combination of several different tasks. The counsellor’s first task is to set you and your partner at ease and make you comfortable. Counselling or therapy is about developing trust with your counsellor or psychologist so that you feel comfortable and safe talking about issues that may be very personal and extremely difficult to discuss. A professional and ethical counsellor will make every effort to allow both of you to tell your side of the issue when it comes to talking about the issues you and your partner are struggling with in your relationship.
The counsellor may use several different types of methods to help you and your partner in the counselling process. This may include:-
- openly discussing difficult topics,
- sharing feelings
- analyzing your behavioural patterns and the ways in which you communicate
- teaching you techniques to help you improve your communication methods,
- role playing,
- role modeling,
- asking you about your childhood and family history or
- pointing out discrepancies in your and your partner’s behaviour.
You may also be asked to undertake projects or practice tasks between sessions (like homework) in order to help with the counselling process. For example, you may be given an assignment regarding how to touch each other (give a massage that is not sexual in nature at least once before the next session), or you may be asked to record your feelings or arguments in a diary and be asked to report back on the experience during the next session.
How to Get the Most from Couples Counseling
The road to relationships can be a hard one to maneuver, especially considering how much the ideologies and perspectives of people can differ. If you are facing relationship issues and wish to resolve them through couples counselling, there are a few things you will need to consider and do to be able to make the most out of couples counselling.
1. Every Relationship Has Problems
Social Media has conditioned a greater part of our minds to believe in a picture-perfect happily ever after. However that is not the case, every relationship comes with its struggles and if you choose to get a couples counselor it is important to learn and grow from struggles. Though problems are rather common in any sort of relationship, what matters the most is how you deal with them.
2. Research Is Vital
It is never a bad idea to do your research before booking your first appointment so you have an idea of what to expect. Aside from researching counselling methods, try looking into a good counselor instead of walking into the first available appointment you find. Searching for the right counselor is important, so make sure to take your time and do the proper investigation for good quality counselling. Also searching for couples counselling reviews online can help to see if other couples have shared their experiences in therapy, good and bad.
3. Make Sure You Are At Ease
Much like any sort of counselling, it is important for the client to feel comfortable enough to feel vulnerable and bare themselves to work on their hiccups. If you aren’t at ease with your therapist there is a high chance you won’t be likely to share some details of your life, which may decrease the success rate of your counselling.
4. Go Big Or Go Home
Counselling is usually taken into account as a last effort to mend a relationship, which leaves most people too defeated or tired to try. It is natural to feel like you’re at a dead-end, however, if you don’t give or try your best to work through your struggles, it is likely that your relationship may not move forward at the pace you wish it to.
5. Walk In With An Open Mind
There is a fair chance that your counselor may not use the same ideologies you researched or wished they would use. Sometimes the exercises can look a bit childish, or against your usual beliefs, however, the help your counselor offers may help bring you and your partner(s) closer than ever!
6. Make An Effort To Attend
Sometimes work, business and other personal matters can create a barrier between you and your significant others. If you are choosing to work on your relationship with a counselor, it is important to prioritize your appointments over other meetings or find a way to make sure you don’t miss your counselling sessions. Aside from simply showing up regularly, you should also make sure to do your homework. Talking about your issues in the counselor’s office is one thing, but implementing those teachings in real-life scenarios is another effort you should make. Most counselors give their patients assignments to complete, for example going out on a date or so. Making a little bit of effort can truly go the long way when it comes to relationships!
7. All The Good Things Take Time
A lot of times people look into therapy and counselling as a one-stop shop, but that is not the case. It is natural to expect the tangled knots in your relationship to be smoothened after just one or two sessions. However, it is important to realize that it takes time for peoples’ mindsets and habits to change. Breaking old habits is not only rather difficult but time-consuming as well. Although there is no need to get disheartened, because as long as you have the drive to work on your relationship and believe that it is worth all the labor, not even month-long sessions can break your spirit!
8. Focus On The Big Picture (And Yourself)
People usually take couples counselling when there is a strain on the relationship, caused either by an external force or the behavior of the partners. It is easier to pinpoint weak areas in your partner(s). However, it is not fruitful trying to change others. Rather, try to focus on yourself and better yourself, since constantly shifting the blame between each other not only wastes precious time but also drives you further into quicksand.
9. Keep An End Goal In Mind
Before you even take your first session, make sure to create a goal list, or a bucket list of sorts, so you can go into your appointments with a clear headspace. Additionally, when you are aware of what direction you want to take your session, you will automatically feel more confident and empowered during your counselling. Having an end vision, no matter how detailed or loosely put together, gives you and your partner(s) the motivation to do their part in couples counselling.
10. Give Your Feedback
After every counselling session, make sure to let your counselor know what you think about their work and how they could help you better. It is important to be able to feel comfortable with them, to critique them, and give them your comments as they are working to make your life better, and no one knows you better than yourself! Along with that, let your counselor and partner(s) know what you are expecting and how you feel constantly and the other way round, as it is crucial to stay on the same page.
Finding a Professional Counselor
To save your marriage, you need to find a counselor you are comfortable with. Of course, experience matters, and you should review their past jobs or the number of couples they have helped. However, the comfort level you share with the therapist is equally important. Find someone that you and your partner can communicate your issues with.
Couples can seek help from psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed professional counselors, family and marriage therapists, and clinical social workers. They all practice counseling but follow different approaches. One common thing in each licensed counselor is the knowledge of modern counseling approaches that have a high success rate. Some therapists also specialize in helping you deal with intimacy issues.
Sources:
The content herein is provided for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Medical information changes constantly, and therefore the content on this website should not be assumed to be current, complete or exhaustive. Always seek the advice of your doctor before starting or changing treatment. If you think you may have a medical emergency, please call your doctor or 9-1-1 (in the United States) immediately.