Ft. Lauderdale Marriage Counseling
Couples Counseling

Create the marriage of your dreams, even if your partner is not ready for counseling. You can learn how to treat your partner in such positive and loving ways that it will be difficult for your partner to reject you or be distant from you.

The best deal of all is when your partner is willing to be part of an intentional process of improving your relationship. When two people are determined to put energy into cancelling the negative and focusing on the positive, success is inevitable.

When you pursue what is positive in your own life you will improve the quality of relationships with everyone in your life, including those to whom you are emotionally most connected. That will inevitably have a positive effect on others in the long run and is a way to exercise your personal power without trying to control others.

How to translate the positive principles of true love into concrete application must be learned by everyone. You can learn what to do that is compassionate and loving when your loved one yells at you. You can learn to listen to and understand how your partner is different from you and learn to honor that difference. You can learn ways to ask for reassurance you need from your spouse when you are scared.

You can learn from friends, mentors, and books. Books are simply friends who have put some helpful ideas into writing. That is why I have written down some things I believe to be true, in the hope that the books might be useful to others. You can find what I have written described here.

You can learn from a psychotherapist or marriage counselor. How to have successful relationships must be learned (some have had wise and loving parents, teachers, and other mentors, and that is great). It is always wise to learn from those who know something about what succeeds. You can find a consultant to help you improve your marriage or raise your level of personal happiness, or both, in the same way you might seek out an attorney or tax advisor or swimming or tennis instructor. A marriage counselor or psychotherapist is a consultant on how to succeed in marriage, how to cancel emotional pain, and how to create joy in your life.

Seeing a therapist is a sign of strength and wisdom. None of us know everything, and the "ins and outs" of emotional life and interpersonal communication and intimacy is a specialization that you can draw upon the same way that you would find a good math teacher to take a course in algebra. You would probably not teach yourself out of a book, unless you were already proficient in math. You would be wise, not crazy, to go to a specialist in human relationships to learn more about what works in the most positive way.

Find a compassionate therapist with whom you feel safe, with whom you can talk freely, who knows more than you do about the matters you want to address, someone you cannot manipulate. I have given you some information in the left column about how I structure therapy, more details about individual therapy on another page.

If you wish to talk further with me in person I will be happy to speak to you. Call me for a no cost brief telephone consulatation at 954-727-9713, and leave you name, number and a time when you can answer your phone if you don't get me in person when you call.

Marriage Counseling
with Benjamin B. Conley, M.Div., LMFT

Improve your life. You can improve your life, according to your own goals. You may be concerned to improve the quality of your everyday living, either to relieve your pain, or to enhance your ability to do well, according to your own values. I hope to support you in pursuing improvements in your personal life and relationships.

I may be able to help you as I have many other individuals, couples and families in 35 years of counseling experience with persons who are depressed, burdened with anxiety and panic attacks, distressed by phobias, hurt from a history of abuse, exhausted from dealing with stress, or frustrated with sexual, communication, and relationship difficulties. This inevitably leads to conflicts in relationships and too often the end of marriages that could have survived.

Three Fundamental Values

In marriage counseling and psychotherapy, you address and apply three fundamental values to everyday living:

1) You have value, as a separate individual, simply because you exist. This is one operational foundation that supports your having a joyful life

2) You inevitably make decisions for yourself, managing your own behavior, thoughts, and feelings by being in control of your own bodies. You are biologically required to make your own decisions, since no one can get inside your head to decide for you, even when you give away your autonomy in order to survive.

3)You think and act using your own best judgment, in your own way. As soon as you copy someone else's way, it becomes your way, with a twist. You can only pursue what you believe is your best option at any given time, even though you sometimes get it wrong.

Negating these fundamentals gives rise to various defensive reactions, power struggles, individual anguish, pain and suffering in relationships.

A relationship with a therapist is one within which your anguish can be accepted and new ways can be found to create what is nurturing and healing. My book, The Spiritual Connection: Values, Faith, and Psychotherapy is a more complete treatment of these points, illustrated through the many different therapeutic approaches that have been developed to deal with emotional conflicts.

My Focus in Therapy/Counseling

My focus is on helping achieve your therapeutic goals as directly as possible, in as little time as possible, using a variety of methods. By providing an environment of acceptance and emotional understanding, you become a knowledgeable participant in your therapeutic journey. Issues such as isolation, interpersonal conflict, power struggles in relationships, self esteem, depression, and anxiety can all be addressed by building on your personal strength and your own inner wisdom.

I will work with you as an individual, couple, family, or business. You can expect that I will draw on a variety of tools, including EMDR work for trauma, phobias, panic disorders, and depression, Imago Relationship Therapy with couples and families, and various other ways drawn from psychoanalytic therapy, rational-emotive therapy, Transactional Analysis/gestalt therapy, psychosynthesis, bioenergetics, sex therapy, hypnosis, and so on. You are welcome from any cultural background, though I speak only English, whether you are 10-12 years old or older, a heterosexual or gay and lesbian individual or couple.

Your ways of thinking and your values matter to me, so that I can respond to your needs in the most effective way, so that you can accomplish mutually agreed upon goals that enhance your quality of life. Your spiritual and religious quest deserves support from me because it is important to you.

Telephone Consultation

I will be happy to talk with you further on the telephone to discuss your goals and what you want to accomplish in therapy or marriage counseling, to see if what I can offer may be helpful to you. Just call me at (954) 727-9713, and if you do not get me in person, leave a message and your number and I will call you at my first opportunity.

Uncertain About Calling Right Now?

While you are thinking over whether to call me, look over the Anthos Publishing website and see if you find something of interest, including signing up for my free email newsletter on emotional growth, love, spirituality and relationships.

( Return to Benjamin Conley's personal website )

What makes
relationships go
sour and what
makes them
succeed.

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SAVE THE MARRIAGE BOOK



This book addresses issues that show up as
a power struggle in every relationship.
Even if your partner is not eager to change, you can make a significant difference on your own in creating the marriage you desire. Find out more here .

Benjamin B. Conley
1881 NE 26th Street
Suite 221
Wilton Manors,
Florida 33305
(Ft. Lauderdale)

Phone:	(954) 727-9713
Fax:	(954) 566-7671

Find out more
about Benjamin Conley

Click here now to use email
to request a call-back from
Benjamin B. Conley!

Specialties or Interests:

Anxiety Disorders
Bereavement / Grief / Loss
Co-dependency
Depression
Emotional Growth
& Development
Gay and Lesbian Issues
Marriage/Couples Issues
Mid-life Issues
Self Esteem
Spiritual Counseling

Professional Title/s:

Marital and Family Therapist
Psychotherapist
Pastoral Counselor

Hourly Fee, based on
financial resources:
$100-$190

Out of Network Provider
for PPO Type Insurance,
such as:
Beechstreet
Blue Cross / Blue Shield
Cigna
Connecticut General
Humana (PPO)
Magellan
Oxford (POS)
PHCS (PPO)
PHS (POS)
Preferred Care (POS)
Prudential
United Behavioral Health (PPO)
UnitedHealthcare (PPO)

In-network with Outpatient Mental Health managed by
Corphealth

Treatment Modalities:

Christian Psychotherapy
Coaching
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Family Therapy
Gestalt Therapy
Goal-Oriented Therapy
Guided Imagery
Marriage/Couples Counseling
Parent Training
Pastoral Counseling
Phobias and
Post Traumatic Stress (EMDR)
Psychodynamic Therapy
Imago Relationhip Therapy
Spiritual Counseling
Transactional Analysis

Treatment Age(s):
Adolescents
Adults
Couples
Seniors

Accepting New Patients:
Yes

Years In Practice:
40

Licensed in Florida:
Marriage & Family Therapist
License # MT1197

Degrees:
B.A., M.Div.

Institutions:

Vanderbilt University
Blanton-Peale
Graduate Institute

Office Information/Hours:

Weekday appointments,
including
late afternoon/evenings, at:

Wilton Manor Plaza,
1881 NE 26th St.
Suite 221
Wilton Manors, FL 33305

My office and voicemail number is:
(954) 727-9713.

Click here for a map of
1881 NE 26th St
Wilton Manors, FL 33305

Professional Organizations/ Affiliations:

Blanton Peale
Graduate Institute
3 yr Residency

American Association of
Marriage and Family
Therapists
Clinical Member

Florida Association of Marriage and Family
Therapists
Clinical Member

American Association.of
Pastoral Counselors Diplomate

Imago Relationships International
Clinical Member

EMDR Institute,
Level II Clinical Member