Many couples would seek marriage counseling when they struggle in their marriage, that’s a good thing. However, there are a few circumstances under which it is not in the couple’s best interest to seek marriage counseling first. This includes a marriage with domestic violence/abuse because domestic violence/abuse is different from normal marriage conflicts. Domestic Violence/Abuse is a pattern of coercive, controlling, or abusive behavior in an intimate relationship, where one person uses such behaviors to gain or maintain manipulation, control and domination over another person. It is a type of oppression, including physical, sexual, emotional, spiritual, psychological, financial abuse/oppression.