We all know that a long-term marriage takes work, and that it can be easy to slip out of the habit of prioritising your relationship. However, there is one tactic which couple’s therapist Karen Doherty recommends to help couples reconnect and course-correct for the future. ‘I’m very big on the “couple deal”,’ says Karen, who is the resident relationship expert on Netflix's Blue Therapy. 'It’s something couples should do every year.”

The good thing about the method is that it only needs to takes place once every 12 months, at any point which suits you. ‘It doesn't matter when you do it. It may be you're on holiday in May, and you sit down and you think about it and say, "Let's do a new deal",’ she says. In a busy world, it can feel hard to make time for your relationship, but Karen insists that isn’t an excuse. ‘When people say, “I'm too busy,” you're not too busy for a 10 minute check in.’

There’s no set time limit for the couple deal. Your conversation can be as long or as short as you want, as long as you each communicate everything you need. Of course, you could choose to schedule further check-ins in between (which Karen recommends), but that’s a personal preference.

The reason a couple deal is important in long-term relationships – especially for those who've been married for decades – is that, ‘people change, and yet they don’t change the systems of their couple’, says Karen. If you married in your 20s and are now in your 60s, for example, you’ll likely have evolved into quite different people. A ‘couple deal’ should therefore change each year to grow with you, and help you deliver what you need for that stage of your life. ‘Communication is everything,’ says Karen.

‘As couples get older, they become more critical'

For some couples, open and honest communication can be difficult, particularly in later life stages when you’ve been together for a long time. In these cases, seeking guidance from a professional could be beneficial.

‘If you have a history of communication difficulties, you can caught up in patterns of escalation and withdrawal,’ explains Karen. ‘As couples get older, they become more critical and there can be more resentment, so they start to bicker. This bickering can escalate into something that is a repeated pattern, and it wears away at the couple. Get help with any of those repeated patterns that leave you bickering or arguing and exhausted after it. Or, if there's a silence, absolutely address that. Don’t just think it’s going to magically heal.’

Blue Therapy is now available on Netflix.