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Figures released by one of the UK’s largest counselling providers have revealed an increased demand for couple counselling as the credit crunch bites. While the general concensus is that financial worries and employment uncertainties are to blame, the long term wider implications of this data has yet to be seen.

The findings reveal that a large proportion of the group’s UK centres have seen an increased demand for its services since the recession took hold. The most significant growth is in the South-East and Midlands, suggesting that these are the areas where couples are most acutely feeling the effects of the recession.

These statistics are supported by further government statistics, which recently disclosed that the demand for couselling in London and its surrounding areas has risen by 12.5 per cent. The reason for this increase in couples seeking counselling is quite clear – the financial stress is making a significant impact on the home of many couples, and as a result relationship problems are coming to a head.

What is less apparent at this stage is whether the increase in couples seeking counselling will have a knock on effect on divorce statistics. One interpretation of the data is to view the growth in couples seeking counselling as the precursor for a growth in divorce. Indeed, counselling for many couples may be a last ditch attempt before the divorce solicitors are called in. If this assumption proves right, rising divorce figures could soon add to the social woes of the current economic reccession.

Conversely, the increased use of counselling services may salvage many marriages which would have been promptly shelved in better economic climes. Rising unemployment, combined with a depressed housing market, will make the cost of divorce not only unattractive, but impossible for the many couples who find their hands tied by the current financial crisis.

The latest figures to be released from such studies support this theory by suggesting that couples are increasingly looking to work through their problems instead of compounding their financial worries with a costly divorce.

Of course, the full implication of these figures will not be conclusively known for some time. The recession will need to ride its course before counselling and divorce figures can be analysed within this context with any clarity. The statistics for couples undergoing counselling and those for couples seeking divorce may not prove mutually exclusive. Whether the current spate of counselling is an alternative to immediately calling upon the divorce solicitors should become clearer over time.

Paul McIndoe writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.