Relationships can be the cause and cure for many of life’s challenges.

Most people are desiring more fulfillment in relationships with a romantic partner, friends, and family. The reasons for relationship issues can be nearly endless: the loss of a partner, estrangement from a parent, rejection from a friend, resentment of a spouse, concern for a child, loneliness, heartache, abuse, jealousy, divorce, fear, regret and remorse. Whatever the reason, therapy can help you improve your relationships.

My Approach

Therapy can help you experience greater satisfaction in your relationships by helping you to build insight into your natural ways of relating to others, and providing a safe place to make intentional changes.

Oftentimes, the challenges clients experience in relationships can show up in the relationship with the therapist. For example, a client could feel disconnected from friends and have received feedback that “It’s hard to get to know the real you.” This difficulty with opening up will likely occur during therapy and present an opportunity to make a change within the safety of the therapy relationship. Just like relationship dynamics from the “outside world” will enter into therapy, the changes made in therapy will follow you into your other relationships, helping you to have the relationships you are longing for. 

I also help my clients understand their current relationships by looking at their past. A great deal of how we approach relationships is due to how we were treated in our families. Examining how your family operated growing up can bring insight into where your relationship education came from. For example, I have worked with many people who describe their relationships as “taking” and they are left feeling undervalued. Through therapy, we identify that a family member often undervalued the client and was critical of the client’s wants and needs. A fear develops that it is “rude” or “selfish” to be assertive and create boundaries. In this situation, the client’s fear of “being selfish” stemmed from the past relational dynamic but does not need to apply to the present. Once you understand these patterns, you can find a new way of relating to others from a place of intentional action rather than confusion and frustration.

Therapy is a highly effective way to help with relationship issues. We can discuss your specific relationship issues during a free phone consultation.