Is communication a stumbling block between you and your partner or within your immediate family circle? Do you have difficulty breaking the repeated patterns of behaviour and emotions that are negatively affecting your relationships? If so, you and your partner may benefit from relationship counselling.
Think of a relationship as an investment – an asset that can gain value over time. Investing in a relationship involves prioritising time to nurture it and devoting energy and attention to enable it to grow. Investments of honesty and respect and expressions of love and freedom help the relationship be healthy and loving.
When a couple begins a relationship, they may be enthusiastic and plan a healthy and happy future together. However, some couples can lose sight of their relationship investment over time and forget to frequently top it up with the same levels of attention, focus, energy, and time. They may settle into a state where the relationship is no longer healthy and communicative. The relationship may gradually lose its value and starts to go downhill without either partner realising it.
Stressful transitional times put pressure on relationships, be they between couples, family members, colleagues or friends. Such events may include the birth of a child, loss of a loved one, separation, infidelity, loss of employment, blending of families, moving interstate, or starting a new job. It can be challenging to adjust to these changes of circumstances, but counselling can help people work out what needs to change and draw upon their strengths to repair or restore their relationships.
How relationship counselling can help.
If you and your partner are experiencing relationship problems, the counsellors at Western Plains Psychology can help you work through your issues, overcome your differences and identify repeating patterns of distress in the relationship. Partnerships seeking counselling present with a range of problems, including power imbalances, trust issues, conflicting ways of raising children, management of finances, breakdowns in communication or intergenerational issues.
Couples counselling at Western Plains Psychology helps people understand their current relationship and what they want from it. They are encouraged to remember what drew them together initially and to be open about their individual needs within the relationship. Counselling incorporates communication skills, understanding your partner’s needs and conflict resolution to assist them in moving towards a loving relationship. This involves exploring feelings, identifying coping strategies and negotiating individual contributions to the success of the relationship. Counsellors are often mediators who help the couple to get to the crux of the problems in their relationship and work towards a solution by allowing each person to express their views in a respectful and supporting environment.