夫妻治療是否有效？大綱
A recent op-ed in The New York Times titled "The Futility of Couples Therapy" has sparked a lot of conversation. Maybe that's because we all know a couple who have tried therapy, or maybe we've even been that couple.
紐約時報最近一個名爲“徒勞的夫妻治療”的專欄引發了廣泛討論。也許是因爲我們都認識一對接受過治療的夫妻，或者甚至我們自己就是這樣的夫妻之一。
We also know that while some unions are strengthened through some time on a therapist's couch, others fail. The author of the op-ed, Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje, was in the former category: Her marriage survived. And yet, the very title of the article suggests that the years she and her husband spent in therapy don't deserve credit for the fact that she and her husband are still together.
我們也知道盡管通過一段時間的治療一些夫妻關係加強了，也有另一些失敗了。專欄的作家Melissa Fletcher Stoeltje屬於前者，她的婚姻被挽救了。但是她的文章卻寫道，她和她丈夫花在治療上的時間並不值得讚揚，因爲他們還依舊在一起。
Fletcher Stoeltje isn't the only one with mixed feelings. There have been numerous other articles debating the efficacy of couples therapy, including this one from 2012, and this one from 2005, which states that 25 percent of couples were worse off two years post-therapy than they were when they started, and that 38 percent of couples had divorced four years post-therapy.
並不是只有Fletcher Stoeltje有着複雜的感情，有很多其他的文章爭論着夫妻治療的有效性。這篇2012年的寫道25%的夫妻在治療兩年後情況變得更加糟糕，另一篇2005年的寫道38%的夫妻在治療四年後離婚。
What exactly is going on?One thing we know: Marriage itself is declining.
到底發生了什麼呢？我們可以確定的是：婚姻關係本身就在減弱。
It's not yet known if marital therapy is becoming less common, but marriage itself certainly is. The rate of marriage has steadily decreased since the 1960s. Because of this, there has possibly been less therapy specifically for married couples and more of "a broad range" of therapy for couples in longer-term relationships.
我們並不知道婚姻治療是不是越來越少，但婚姻本身確實如此。從20世紀60年代開始結婚率正在緩慢下降，因此或許針對已婚夫婦的治療已經減少了，而針對伴侶長期關係的更加範圍廣泛的治療卻增加了。
Whether or not the relationship can be saved, an individual going through a tough time needs support, and therapy can provide that.
無論雙方關係能否被挽救，一個人面對難熬的時期是需要支持和幫助的，而治療可以提供這種幫助。
Therapy is not a guarantee that your relationship can be saved, but if you both have an equal interest in making progress, and you can afford it, then it's certainly worth a try. At the very least, if you're the interested party, going to see a therapist can potentially help you through whatever transition is happening in your relationship.
治療並不是保證關係被挽救的良藥，但如果雙方都願意進一步維繫且可以承擔這種治療，那麼的確值得嘗試。至少如果你感興趣，去看治療師可以從潛意識裏幫助你度過雙方關係的轉型期。
譯文屬原創，未經允許，不得轉載。
