RELATIONSHIP COUNSELLING
Building Healthy Relationships from the Inside Out
You may be feeling stuck in an unhealthy relationship that is preventing you from getting the love and connection you desire. Or you may be frustrated with being single and the pressures of dating, or dealing with hurt from past relationships. Perhaps you are struggling with difficult family dynamics or parenting concerns. Or do you simply want to develop more meaningful connections with your friends, family and partners?
Many people seeking relationship counselling feel alone and wonder if something is wrong with them while at the same time are yearning for close, meaningful connections.
Relationship counselling can help you break-free from unhealthy patterns in your relationship dynamics, improve your connection with yourself and in-turn strengthen your bond with others.
Through our work together we will help you:
Understand the impact of past hurts on your self-confidence and feelings of self-worth.
Work through emotional blocks and protective patterns.
Understand your attachment style and your comfort level with closeness or distance in your relationships.
Expand your tolerance for feelings of loneliness and anxiety around being single.
Explore parenting concerns and learn new strategies to support your child and strengthen your relationship.
Discover your strengths, joys and passions as an individual, deepening your relationship with yourself from a place of compassion.
Potential Issues:
feeling lonely and alone in your relationships or in life in general
grieving the loss of a past relationship
feeling disconnected from friends and family
struggles with parenting and raising children
lack of intimacy in your relationships
feeling anxious about being single
feeling judged or shamed
feeling stuck in an unhealthy relationship
Benefits of Therapy:
feel more connected to yourself in order to make healthy relationship choices
improve intimacy and connection with your partner
learn how to assert healthy boundaries
learn new strategies to support your children
learn how to communicate your vulnerabilities and needs in a safe and secure way
find joy in your life that is separate from relationships
explore your ability to connect and feel emotionally safe with others
AREAS OF FOCUS
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Single and Dating
Being single in our society can be anxiety provoking. Social norms and pressures can make you feel like there’s something wrong if you’re not partnered, despite the benefits of single life. If you are dating, it can be an emotional roller-coaster. Relationship counselling helps you understand your attachment style and potential barriers to creating meaningful connections. It provides a space to explore your values and articulate what you are looking for so you can work towards creating the relationships you want, with yourself and with others.
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Emotional Connection and Physical Intimacy
Do you feel a lack of connection to your partner? Is this bringing up feelings of guilt, anger or loneliness? Perhaps your partner isn’t ready or willing to engage in couples therapy; Relationship counselling is a good place to start. It helps you understand your ‘dance’ with your partner and track how reactive behaviour can impact the dynamic. We can help you get to know your underlying vulnerabilities and needs, so you can communicate and become more responsive and engaged with your partner.
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Meaningful Connections
Do you find it hard to make meaningful connections with others? Is making and keeping friendships difficult for you? Do you find your relationships with co-workers, friends or family members feel superficial or unsatisfying in some way? Relationship counselling can be a space for you to explore your needs, values, desires and behaviours in your relationships. We can help you build more satisfying and meaningful connections with the people in your life, so you feel less alone and more engaged with your life and the people in it.
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Family Relationships
Relationships with family members can be particularly complex. With family, we often fall into old roles that may no longer serve us. You may be grieving the loss of a relationship you wished you had with a family member, or struggling with conflict and hurt feelings that keep getting re-triggered in each encounter. You may be facing challenges with parenting or trying to figure out the best ways to support your children. Relationship counselling can help you sort through the complexities of family dynamics, understand old roles and how you get pulled into them while working towards setting healthy boundaries in order to create more harmonious family dynamics.
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Breakups
Do you find yourself feeling devastated and adrift after a break-up? Fearing being alone forever, or feeling fearful of entering a new relationship? Relationship counselling provides a space to process feelings of grief after a break-up (sadness, pain, resentment, loneliness, anger). Working with one of our therapists, you can explore the reasons behind your break-up; what did and didn’t work, so you can make decisions about what is important to you and what your needs and values are, to make healthy relationships possible.