Are you experiencing difficulties in your relationship? Perhaps you have been fighting with your partner more? Or you have been fighting over parenting? Or feeling disconnected? Or maybe you just don’t know what is going on, but it doesn’t feel like it used to? If you are feeling like you might need counselling, then you likely do. Often couples leave it until too late and repairing the rupture in the relationship is very difficult. Therapy is easier if both partners are interested in attending, but working on your relationship can also be done by seeing a counsellor individually. Issues that can be addressed in couples therapy:
- Communication. A key element in a successful relationship. If you can’t talk to your partner or listen then there will be an issue. Active listening, paraphrasing and utilizing “I” statements are essential in this area.
- Connection. How much time you are spending with your partner is important. Couples who are experiencing difficulties, typically spend little time with each other. For example, shuttling kids around to activities and work often take priority. The quality of the time spent together is important as well. Watching television together at the end of a long day is not quality time. It is wind down time, but not connecting time.
- Respect. Couples often treat each other worse than their worst enemy. Swearing, name calling and cold silence which lasts for days are a few of the behaviours. Your partner is supposed to be an ally.
If working on your relationship as a couple or individually is of interest contact Annette at 905-520-5859 or click here. Remember when you took a risk and a made a choice to trust your partner? Is that not worth saving? Listening. Guiding. Caring.
