I recognize the stigma that professional help can carry (especially with older generations). We were not raised with the idea that we didn't have every tool, knowledge, and ability to address every mental or emotional challenge that we might get faced with. This realization is what helped me.

That being said, recently the topic of counseling came up in conversation on an unrelated situation, and she made it clear that she is not fond of the idea. If we find ourselves in a situation where we can’t communicate healthily, I will propose couples counseling.

Perhaps use this line of thinking when talking to her: If there is a water leak occurring somewhere in your house and large puddles are randomly appearing on the floor, would you or your wife just start tearing into the wall or instead would you call a professional plumber that has the tools and experience to know how to address this situation? Why would we think with zero training each of use would be equal to a plumbing professional? We simply aren't. Its the same thing with mental health. While there are some issues we are capable of addressing on our own, there are simply some jobs that we're not equipped for and not calling a professional can lead to no fix, but amateur efforts to address it make the problem worse than it was to begin with.