Many couples meet through common friends, work colleagues or family members. Parenting companions often support a couple during the years of raising children. Maintaining existing connections and forming new ones outside the relationship provides important support in long term relationships.

Couples frequently seek counseling because infidelity has crept into their relationship. If the relationship is to continue, the partner who has been unfaithful must be transparent about the transgression and must empathize with the feelings that the partner experiences.