RELATIONSHIP COUNSELING FOR ONE

Sometimes, we have experience unhappiness in our relationships with family, friends and significant others and it can be confusing what we should to solve the problems. We may be contemplating leaving a long-term relationship or marriage, but struggle with uncertainty causing us to vacillate over the decision. Perhaps, your family is in conflict and you would like to make changes in how you react or learn to set some boundaries that would make the relationship better for you. Individual therapy for relationship problems can help you with all of these problems and more.

WHAT IF MY PARTNER WON’T COME?

Often times, one partner will want to get help for the relationship by going into counseling while the other may say they are not interested in going to therapy or they don’t believe in therapy. This can be very discouraging if you are the partner who wants help. You may find it beneficial to go to individual therapy as working on yourself can drastically improve the relationship for both of you. Changes you make within yourself can go a long way to improving things between you and may encourage your partner to join you in.

COUPLES THERAPY

Our relationship with our spouse/partner is one of the closest we will have in lives. The connection that bonds us together can be likened in depth and intensity to the parent-child bond as it is similarly built on safety, intimacy, affection, support and comfort. No wonder it hurts so much when it is threatened with conflict. Partners often respond differently to conflict. One may become closed off or withdrawn while the other anxiously attempts to talk the problem out. These responses often become a pattern used to reduce tension and stabilize the relationship, however, it rarely works and tends to fuel conflict causing the relationship to become stuck.

When your relationship becomes stuck, you may have a hard time feeling close and enjoying your time with each other. Many couples find themselves repeating the same arguments, but never coming to an understanding. Sometimes disagreements spiral out of control and create new areas of conflict or wounds. Feeling misunderstood, judged, criticized, unloved or cared for can cause the relationship to lose its spark and partners to become emotionally distant from each other.

If this sounds familiar, you are not alone and there is good reason to hope. With commitment and hard work, you and your partner can get back on track and rebuild a loving, close relationship.

FAMILY RELATIONSHIP STRUGGLES

In a perfect world, our families would provide us with support, unconditional love and acceptance and strength. They would be the people with whom we openly share our thoughts and feelings. However, all too often, family life can become riddled with conflict, resentments, dramatic arguments, disappointment, anger and guilt. We can feel rejected by misunderstandings, criticism or lack of support. We may build emotional walls or create distance to keep from being rejected or to avoid painful arguments.

HOW FAMILY THERAPY CAN HELP

Family therapy is different than other therapies in that the entire family is treated as the “client”. The basic understanding is that what affects one member affects all members of the family. An illness or acting out behavior of one member may be a result of a larger family problem. Often times, the family member who is problematic when treated in individual therapy only to recover and another member of the family become symptomatic. In order to resolve family issues the cooperation of everyone in the family is crucial to strengthening bonds and resolving conflicts. During family therapy sessions, members identify how conflicts affect one another individually and the family as a whole. The family develops improved skills for managing and working through conflicts.

Family therapy is helpful in the treatment of various problem areas including those in which:

• The parents have conflict within their relationship.
• A child has behavior or school problems.
• Teens have problems getting along with each other.
• One family member has a long-term (chronic) mental illness or substance abuse problem, such as severe depression or an alcohol use problem.

Therapist in Columbia, SC; Counselor in Columbia, SC;  Anxiety, Depression, Grief, Postpartum, Trauma & PTSD, Couples and Marriage Counseling in Columbia, Irmo, Chapin, and Lexington, SC.