Relationship Issues

Relationships can be a wonderful and beautiful thing however; they can also be complicated, confusing and painful. The choice to get involved in a relationship and build a connection with another individual can be easy for some but very difficult for others. To build and keep a relationship safe one must learn to trust openly, communicate effectively and respect one another. If one of these areas falls short, the relationship begins to crumble and a couple can find themselves on shaky grounds.

How do I learn to trust?

When I begin to talk about self esteem I like to talk about our self worth and what that means to us. Our self worth is something we are born with and we never lose. We are all brought into this world as worthy individuals. We never lose our self worth; we just lose the sense of it. We rob ourselves of reaching, or even recognizing our full potential when we suffer from a lack of self esteem.

• So how do we trust, communicate and respect one another throughout the existence of our relationship?
• How do we build trust, keep trust and regain trust if it has been broken?
• How do we communicate effectively in good times and bad?
• And how do we show respect to our partner throughout our relationship?

These are all excellent questions for those who are in or have been in relationship. At times, we take these things for granted. We say things such as "of course I respect him/her, it's he/she that doesn't respect or trust me". How often do we point our finger and pass blame on to the other person? When it comes to pointing out the wrongs in our partners we can be very vocal but when it comes to looking inward and evaluating our own responsibility and accountability, we fall short.

How will therapy help?

When working with relationships, one must learn about the development and foundation of the couple. It is very important to learn about each individual within the partnership. Each day we choose whether to work against, or for, our relationship. It begins when we first wake up and greet our partner for the day; the tone is set and the day progresses from there. I work with clients to recall their strengths and realize their shortcomings. To work together as a couple is to instill life into their relationship. I also focus strongly on communication; how to have discussions effectively and how to fight fair when ideas or beliefs differ. Being in a healthy relationship means we allow ourselves to be vulnerable to someone. If we do not trust or respect our partner, we do not allow ourselves to become vulnerable and our relationships become stunted because of that.

I thoroughly enjoy working with couples and helping individuals build and restore their relationships. If you are feelings distress within your relationship, the therapy office is a safe place for you and your partner to explore your relationship and come to a better understanding of yourself and your commitment to your partner.