Relationship Concerns
Our relationships are important to us. They can be rich and rewarding. Many of us find that at some time in our lives an important relationship (with a spouse or partner, a parent, sibling, or child) hits a “bumpy road.”
Relationship issues can be the focus of individual therapy as well as couple or family work. In individual work the person may need a place to talk about his or her experiences in that relationship, to see problems to which each person contributes, to recognize patterns related to other relationships. Couple or family work offers a more active opportunity to resolve conflict and problem solve together, while exploring strengths each person brings to the situation.
Therapy can help by:
- Improving communication
- Allowing each person’s position to be “heard”
- Offering a setting for each person to learn about how they deal with relationships
- Offering a setting for exploring one’s patterns of acting and reacting
- Creating a safer environment for each person in the relationship
- Giving each person a feeling of being supported
Relationships serve as a basis for support, values, and self esteem. Women are particularly aware of interpersonal connections and depend on them as a source of self-development. Men value relationships with partners as a source of encouragement and strength. As a result, we struggle to develop strong, caring relationships, in which we feel understood and valued.
People come to therapy with varying concerns about relationships. Some are lonely and are seeking help in increasing skills to create important connections to others. The person may come to therapy to work toward opening him or herself to more fulfilling relationships. Others have a limited number of relationships and are looking for ways to increase their social support system. Some come to therapy to improve the quality of an important relationship, such as with a spouse or partner or family member.
Relationship concerns may be addressed in individual, couples or family therapy. In some cases, an individual may come to therapy and, after some period of time, a significant other person may join the therapy for one or more sessions. This flexible style opens opportunities for talking about changes and working with significant others, when appropriate.
