Mr Austin Gamey, a leading ADR practitioner, has chided marriage counsellors, accusing them of being the cause of the high divorce rate in the country.
According to him, the high rate of divorce calls for a review of the counselling system, mostly in the churches.
Statistics in Ghana shows that about 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, and the courts remain inundated with divorce cases.
The cases remain high although most of the partners undergo counselling sessions conducted in churches with the aim of preparing them for the marital union.
But Mr Gamey believes there is something fundamentally wrong with the counselling offered by the marital counsellors, mainly in the churches.
Speaking at the 19th graduation ceremony for 22 students in Professional Executive Master of Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR) course of the Gamey and Gamey ADR Institute in Accra on Saturday, he said “the rate at which divorce is being recorded calls for a review of the pre-marital counselling sessions.”
“More so the counsellors who school would-be couples in counselling sessions may reconsider their method of counselling,” he said.
According to Mr Gamey, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Gamey and Gamey Group, the Counselors need professional training and skills to enable them to offer practical counselling that would support partners to co-exist peacefully.
He recommended professional training in marital mediation for counsellors to enable them to save marriages which encounter disputes.
Such training, he said would ensure that counsellors act impartially in resolving disputes between couples.
By Nii Adotey/adrdaily.com
