Therapy for relationships

In-person in chico ca

Relationships are tough.

Why is it that those we love most also seem to cause us the most pain? Do you feel like you and your partner or child are always talking past one another and don’t ever reach a place of understanding? Maybe you’ve given up trying to be seen, accepted, or understood.

Maybe you’re noticing:

  • You feel constantly frustrated with your loved one

  • Attempts at communication too often lead to escalation and arguments

  • You’ve given up trying, you feel yourself shutting down to the other person, or just going through the motions

  • When you try to get your loved one to understand your perspective you are met with hostility

  • Or maybe you and your loved one are just experiencing a difficult issue and need a third party to help get you through it

Instead of constant sorrows, our relationships can become the source of our greatest joy.

Therapy to support relationships

Therapy for couples, families, and children can support finding common ground and an understanding of the space that is called “we”. This “we” space can sometimes feel threatening if our boundaries were often violated in past relationships. Learn to expect to be respected and heard while leaving space for others to speak as well.

Finding love and true connection brings happiness to our lives. Working together, I can help you find the acceptance and understanding that will bring the peace and harmony that we all need to thrive. Only when we come from a place of authenticity with ourselves is true connection possible.

I will help you to identify the patterns of conflict in your relationships and establish healthy boundaries where everybody’s needs can be met. I will also support you in self-compassion practices: When we listen to our wiser, more compassionate self we increase empathy and the ability to show up for others in our life as well. In this way, trust and feelings of well-being and happiness are tended, building the supportive relationships that will sustain us as we face the difficulties of life, together.

What we’ll work on

Therapy for relationships can help you:

  • Learn how to transform the destructive “control drama triangle” that often holds us back from true connection in our relationships

  • Establish patterns of healthy communication

  • Identify ways that we self-sabotage getting our needs met in relationship

  • Become comfortable with the vulnerability that is required for authentic relationships

  • Learn how to establish boundaries with clarity and communicate clearly what you will and will not consent to

  • Learn how to address internal feelings of inadequacy and “not being good enough” so we don’t project our inner critic onto those we love

You are a wonderful and capable parent, partner, or child.

I’M HERE TO SUPPORT YOU IN EMBRACING THAT.

FAQS

Common questions about therapy for parents

  • I see couples in all stages of the relationship: Dating, pre-marital, marriage, co-habitation, divorce mediation, and co-parenting mediation.

    I see children alone or with their families.

    I also support other relationships, such as friendships, work relationships, and groups.

  • It is different because instead of the “unit of treatment” being a single person we address the needs and sources of difficulty for the relationship itself. The client is the relationship, not the individuals in it.

  • We often go out into the world at large with our “social masks” on. It’s easier to “put on our face” as we go out into the world and interact. However, with people in our home or workspace, the masks come off. We are seen at our best but also our worst. But these close relationships can foster greater authenticity, self-compassion, and empathy in a way other relationships can’t. Where there is great risk there is great opportunity.