Relationships

I help clients with all forms of relationships- romantic, friends, family, and even coworkers and business partners. Almost all work in counseling involves relationships on some level. When I see clients for addiction, depression, anxiety or any other issue, it almost always circles back in some way to the relationships in their lives, most often their close romantic relationships. Maybe they see their relationship issues as causing them to cope in a certain way (overconsumption of alcohol, for example), or maybe these other issues lead to problems within the relationship. The relationship topics that are most common in my office include communication, conflict management, seeking a balance between intimacy and independence, trust issues, creating a shared path or vision for the future, healing past resents, and dealing with “unmet needs”- the things we want in a relationship that we are having trouble getting. The part that feels great in counseling is receiving validation from the therapist that everything you are experiencing makes sense and is not all your fault, that you are not alone. The good news is that almost every relationship issue that comes up in my office, I’ve dealth with a thousand times. There are effective and easy to use tools to smooth out the waves in our relationships. There is a way forward. The part that is facing the reality of our own contribution to problems in the relationships, taking ownership of the way we are co-creating the relationship problem with our partner. Even if you see your partner as the one at fault, there are probably choices you are making and actions you are taking, consciously or unconsciously, that are maintaining the '“dysfunctional dance”. For things to improve, we have to look at it from both angles, the ways in which you are not being treated the way you want, and the way you may have to change in order to get there.