UNC's psychology department offers a couples counseling clinic

Couples for whom Valentine’s Day wasn’t all they expected might find help from UNC’s psychology department.

For as little as $5, Chapel Hill couples can get counseling on how to handle issues from marriage preparation to infidelity from the psychology department’s Couples Clinic.

“It’s very important to us that we’re a service to the community as well as to the campus,” said Dr. Donald Baucom, co-director of Couples Services.

The clinic not only addresses common relationship difficulties, but also helps couples in which one partner is experiencing major health problems, with a current program focusing on situations where the female is experiencing early-stage breast cancer.

Assessment costs are on a sliding scale, proportional to income, from $5 to $80.

“We don’t turn anyone down based on their income,” Baucom said.

Students regularly attend the clinic, mainly when they are trying to decide whether to make a relationship commitment, said Christine Paprocki, a doctoral student at the clinic.

For a lot of seniors, graduation means one or both partners will be moving away. The clinic can guide the couple in responding, whether through managing a long-distance relationship or breaking off the relationship in an amicable manner.

“I know a lot of people who are dealing with that,” senior history major Molly Cunningham said. “That’s something I think people can really benefit from.”

The clinic uses a technique called cognitive behavioral therapy, a theoretical approach that focuses on communication and the way each partner interprets the other’s behavior.

“If you interpret things negatively, you will react negatively,” Baucom said.

For example, he said, some people jump to conclusions when a partner forgets their birthday, when a more common explanation is that it’s innocent forgetfulness.

The clinic aims to address the distorted interpretations that are often at the heart of relationship difficulties, Baucom said. A notable part of Baucom’s work at the clinic has been in treating the impacts of infidelity.

“You might call it an interpersonal trauma,” Baucom said. “It really violates your basic assumptions about the way the world operates.”

Baucom’s treatment involves three stages: helping both partners with absorbing the blow of infidelity, coming to understand it and then moving on.

According to the clinic’s website, the treatment is the first to be shown effective at treating infidelity.

Though the clinic is currently full, Paprocki said there should be more openings next semester.

But many students find the idea of counseling strange.

“It’s nice to have advice, but I don’t think I’d ever want counseling.”

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