Some people will have negative experiences in couples therapy. The process of going to couples therapy surfaces some tough conversations and makes people feel vulnerable, which they may interpret as “making things worse”—even if the process may be helpful in the long run.
Certain couples do break up after couples therapy, but sometimes that’s for the best. Some people stay in a relationship just for their children or because they don’t know how to make a change. In these cases, people can be more unhappy staying in a relationship than leaving one—and a separation could be seen as a form of success.