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FIGHTING couples risk their marriages or de facto relationships ending because of cuts to affordable counselling services, a leading relationship psychologist warns.
Rosalie Pattenden said a focus on funding services handling break-ups was at the expense of helping relationships survive.
''We have put a lot of money into post-separation counselling but the funding has been more difficult in the area of keeping couples and families together,'' she said at a national conference in Melbourne. ''That seems a bit odd to me.''
Medicare-subsidised counselling sessions have been cut from 18 to 10. Ms Pattenden said it was inadequate for many couples. ''If the conflict and arguments have been going on for a long time, that leads to a lot of stress, anxiety, anger, bitterness and sadness - that takes a long time to work through,'' she said. ''Ten sessions may not be may not be enough for couples with really complex issues.''
Ms Pattenden called for more emphasis on preventative counselling to keep relationships intact at the Australian Psychological Society's Counselling Psychology Conference on Friday.
Almost 49,000 Australian couples divorced in 2011, a decrease of 2.6 per cent from 2010, according to figures from the Bureau of Statistics.
Ms Pattenden said evidence-based relationship therapy was effective in helping couples resolve conflict but long term counselling was often required.
While counselling costs vary, an unsubsidised session can cost up to $220 an hour - beyond the reach of many couples.
''How do you keep providing clients with the services that they need when there isn't the economic ability for them to go on in long-term counselling?'' she said.
''Some practitioners even do some pro bono work rather than let the client go.''
John Aiken, the co-author of Making Couples Happy, based on the ABC1 series of the same name, said 10 counselling sessions could be enough to save a relationship.
''Some of the complex problems, like recovering from an affair for example, might require a bit longer but, for most couples, they can achieve a lot of change in 10 sessions,'' he said.
''The main issue is that often couples don't seek help until the relationship is on the rocks. It's very hard to turn a relationship around when you're in it.''
Lyn Fletcher, the operations director with Relationships Australia NSW, agreed that more preventative services were needed.
''Counselling is the fence at the top of the cliff and the post-separation services are the ambulance at the bottom,'' she said.
She said the bulk of new government funding had gone into post-separation services but this remained important as it helped couples maintain civility and potentially avoid legal expenses.
''Families are vulnerable after split ups, children in particular are impacted. I don't begrudge them that access to counselling services,'' she said.
''That said, there is a lack of thinking about how we can prevent this happening in the first place.''
The Community Services Minister, Julie Collins, said the government was committed to supporting children and families and was spending more than $1 billion on family support over four years. It funds services delivered by 350 non-government organisations.