Upcoming Events :
Housing Seminar: Partnerships with the Public Sector – Avoiding the pitfalls
Thu 31 May 2012
Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9BB
Relate: Couples should have access to counselling
Fri 29 Jan 2010
Married couples who are going through a difficult period should be able to access relationship counselling.
This is the view of Claire Tyler of support group Relate, who said lots of couples who have separated or divorced later wished they had taken up this option.
Speaking to BBC News, she cited independent research that showed 50 per cent of people wished they had tried harder to save their relationship.
Carol Ellinas of Winckworth Sherwood said this is an option that is always put forward to couples by the law firm.
"We always discuss this with clients and explore all possibilities including counselling and therapy," she commented.
"I always say to clients that they need to be able to say they did everything they could to save their relationship before deciding divorce is the only option."
Ms Tyler of Relate added that while family breakdown costs the country about £24 billion a year, the government only spends £7 million a year on relationship support. 
