I'm not a counselor but I am a communication professor who specializes in inter-personal communication. The primary goal of a marriage counselor is to facilitate a dialogue between couples who begin to have to issues that result in conflict because of lack of communication or lack of rules and boundaries set before they entered into the marriage.

Every couple is different but primarily the root of the problems are lack of communication or expectation violations on a frequent basis. What may end up happening is that they can suggest another type of therapist, counselor or other expert that each member can consult with together or individually. If it's a behavioral issue they will usually call for a therapist for one of the other if it's a finanical issue they will usually recommend a financial expert.

It's not really the Marriage Counselor's job to solve the problem but to figure it out and then create a path and consult with the couple and other professionals to see if the marriage is salvageable or what they both need to prepare for post divorce.