Relationship Therapy
The lack of connection with friends and family can feel lonely
When you have tried to share your needs, wants, and emotions with family and friends, and you are met with defensiveness or invalidation of your experience, it can feel very lonely and hopeless.
You may be wondering what you are doing wrong, what they are doing wrong, and what needs to change. This can be a confusing space to be in when you don’t have the skills or knowledge of what the problem is or how to fix it.
You may be longing for connection and enjoyable interactions with family and friends, and this can feel defeating when you have tried everything and continue to feel stuck.
Do you find it difficult to communicate your needs with others?
Do you struggle to set boundaries out of fear of what their reaction might be?
Do you long for a deep connection with others, although can’t seem to figure out what the barrier is?
Do you struggle to know what a healthy relationship with family, friends, or romantic partners looks like?
Oftentimes, most of us did not grow up with a great example of what a healthy relationship can look like, making it difficult to discern if our current relationships are healthy. It can be difficult to change a long-lasting pattern on your own and know where to start or what needs to change.
Are you struggling with having a healthy relationship
All Relationships Have Ups and Downs
A healthy relationship does not mean that you never have tough moments. Every relationship will have times when there is disconnection, frustration, arguments, and unmet needs. What is more important is how you navigate through tough times with those you love and care about.
There are several factors that may be affecting your ability to work through conflict with your loved ones which could include problems with social skills, poor past experiences with relationships, broken trust, and not feeling understood.
Knowing how to connect with people is important for your mental health and well-being. When we are unable to connect with family or friends, this can lead to depression, anxiety, shame, and low self-esteem.
Utilizing Emotion-Focused Therapy to Repair Relationships
Our therapist utilizes a specific type of therapy called Emotion-Focused Therapy to restore connection and promote resilience in all relationships. The goals of EFT is to re-establish more secure family patterns where attachment and caregiving responses are effective and emotional bonds are repaired.
Emotion Focused Therapy expands the awareness of unacknowledged feelings associated with the family’s negative patterns. EFT helps family and friends reframe the distress experiences in relationships, and the blocks reinforcing the disconnection.
EFT works to facilitate and share unmet attachment needs with family and friends, along with identifying what you need specifically to feel heard, understood, and connected in your relationships.
But you may still have questions about relationship therapy…
What are the benefits of attending therapy to work on my relationships?
Relationship therapy can assist with communication skills and boundaries, which can reduce stress related to conflict when you can be clearer about what your needs are.
Relationship therapy can also improve the ability to identify and express feelings thoughtfully and productively, increase empathy for yourself and others, along with conflict management skills to improve relationships with family and friends.
While relationship therapy is not a magic solution to making all of your problems go away, it can be an extremely effective tool in helping you understand yourself and others, provide skills to effectively cope and work through challenging situations.
What are some of the signs that I should go to therapy to improve my relationships?
Some of the signs that relationship therapy might be beneficial for you include:
You’re having frequent and intense arguments with people in your life.
There is a lack of skills to effectively communicate what you need and want from those in your life.
There are trust issues within certain relationships causing hesitancy in leaning on them for support.
A major life transition is putting stress on your relationships
You’re growing apart from someone you used to be close with
There are unresolved past issues that continue to affect your relationship connection
You want a healthier relationship!
What If the problems that I encounter in my relationships with family and friends have been going on for years, is there still hope?
Many times, individuals are coming to therapy to work on issues that have been long standing in their family or friend relationships, that’s okay! Just because these issues have been going on for multiple years, does not mean that the relationship is hopeless to change. Addressing concerns now will only help with identifying the source of the issue and figuring out how to navigate communication and boundaries moving forward. If this is a large issue that has been present for many years, just know it will take some time to get through it with your therapist. We provide a caring, compassionate, and confidential environment where you can feel safe working through any issue that arises.
Vulnerability can be hard in Relationships
Most individuals were not taught effective communication skills and how to be vulnerable with those they love, which can lead to continued stress and disconnection.
Many times, when individuals are met with defensive behaviors or being shut down after being vulnerable, this can lead to shutting down yourself and not being open. The fear of getting a negative reaction if you share your vulnerable emotions can feel scary and uncomfortable.
Vulnerability can be anxiety-provoking when you have had negative experiences with sharing your emotions, even with people you feel you can trust. Many people will shut down their needs, and instead focus on what others need to avoid conflict, which can also lead to dissatisfaction in relationships.
Relationship Therapy can help you identify what needs to change to have the relationship you want with others
Relationships can be challenging when you do not feel heard, understood, or validated in your experience. Our therapists utilize EFT (Emotion-Focused Therapy) to help individuals identify what their needs are within their relationships, the emotions attached to these needs, and skills to work on communicating these needs to improve relationships.
Whether these struggles are with family, friends, or romantic partners, EFT therapy can help work through the barriers of connection, identify boundaries, and identify what you are looking for in your relationships to feel happy.
What to Expect in Session
The first step in starting therapy is to set up an intake appointment where your therapist will gather the history of your presenting problem to fully understand where your struggles are coming from. The more honest you can be about your struggles and history, the easier it is for your therapist to help you!
You and your therapist will then discuss how often is recommended to attend therapy based on the goals and symptoms that are present. Your therapist will work with you to identify your specific needs in therapy and what is important to you to focus on within therapy to help with the goals of having healthy relationships in your life.
You can have the relationship connection you are looking for
If you would like to schedule an appointment or discuss any questions you may have regarding relationship therapy, please contact us at 480-779-7426. We try to get back to all voicemails and emails within 24 hours.
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