There is no perfect recipe for a fulfilling relationship and the recipe for the perfect relationship differs for everybody. However, the ground rule remains the same – that you must nurture your relationships in order to gain mutual fulfilment from them.
A healthy relationship requires your time, energy and patience
It’s often said that a loving and caring relationship is the key to a healthy and happy life. As human beings we are social creatures and need to be in relationship with others.
Considering all the daily stresses in your life from juggling work and home priorities while still trying to find time for yourself your relationship can often suffer. When a relationship suffers for an extended period, both people in the relationship often begin feeling disconnected, misunderstood, and even betrayed or neglected by their partner. Letting these feelings bubble under the surface can have a detrimental impact on the relationship over time.
Many people give up on relationships too quickly, believing there’s no way to fix their problems.
Did you know that one in three marriages in Australia ends in divorce? Relationship issues occur whether you’re dating, in a serious and committed relationship, engaged or married.
The problem for many people in relationships is that they’ve never learned how to communicate effectively. While reasons for this vary, working to improve your communication skills and learning how to connect and listen to your partner can make your relationship stronger than ever.
Pre-marriage counselling is recommended as a preventative measure. Learn about one another early on and how to navigate your lives together, to really enhance your relationship.
Some issues that often need to be considered in relationships:
- improving communication and conflict resolution skills
- feeling trapped
- infidelity
- intimacy
- separation and divorce.
How counselling and therapy can help your relationship
It’s often many years before people seek out help for their relationship – usually around five years. In that time they have begun to feel disconnected from their partners, misunderstood or neglected. During this period respect and love has often diminished.
Therapy will help tease out the problems that both you and your partner are experiencing.
- Sometimes it’s about developing more adult ways of communicating your frustrations and resolving long-term problems that have been overlooked or avoided, for fear of ‘rocking the boat’.
- In some cases it may be addressing an infidelity and finding a way back into the relationship.
- For others it may be time to walk away, but unsure how to do that with dignity and integrity, particularly if there are children and ongoing contact is involved.
Tools and techniques
My role is as coach, teacher and therapist. I will help you learn the necessary communication skills to understand both yourself and your partner better; to heal the wounds and make the necessary decisions and changes in order to move forward, either together or separately.
Underlying causes
During this process we will also explore earlier life experiences that maybe impacting your relationship now, such as the way you relate to one another. We all learn how to be in a relationship from our primary carers. Some people learn healthy ways of relating and communicating. Others learn unhealthy and at times destructive ways. We will address these and replace them with new and respectful ways of relating.