Relationship & Intimacy Problems

Relationship Issues

Relationship Therapy can help with cultivating and maintaining emotional connection, communication difficulties, infidelity, fighting or growing apart, differences in libido or sexual preferences, and changes in relationship structure.

I have no professional preference or hierarchy of relationship structures, such as favouring marriage or monogamy. I will work with you and whatever partnership connections you aspire to have.

When To Seek Help

You may feel you have grown apart, or that your relationship no longer provides what one or both of you want and need, or you may be wondering if you can make the necessary changes in your relationship to improve your life together. 

You may be experiencing rows, conflict, resentment, boredom, feeling misunderstood, or a lot of distance and withdrawal between you and your partner, leaving you feeling as though you are living separate lives. Maybe only of you feels your relationship is is crisis, that there’s too many demands, or there’s feelings of neglect, or excessive drinking, gambling or affairs. 

Sadly, studies show that most couples wait 6 – 10 years before getting counselling, which then requires so much additional work as the original issue has been compounded by years of resentment. The sooner you get professional help the better.

How Does It Work? 

Typically, we start with one or two individual sessions with each person in the relationship. Then, you will attend together and work through issues as a partnership.

Often, in a long term relationship or marriage, there can be a tendency towards enmeshment, sometimes called “co-dependency”, where the differences are smoothed over. Typically, at least one person feels they have had to  compromise hugely and are not really able to be themselves. This can stifle self-expression and lead to resentment. Relationship counselling allows you to be separate individuals, with unique differences, who are in a relationship together.

What To Expect From Therapy

Although it can be uncomfortable to open up about your intimate situation to someone you don’t know, most people find it surprisingly comfortable after a few sessions. 

It’s worth mentioning that my aim is to help each person to improve their relationship skills and gain sufficient emotional clarity to decide what sort of relationship they want to have and with whom. I am deeply committed to supporting you in your process but I have no vested interest in keeping people together – or separating them.