A relationship refers to a connection of two or more people who build enduring commitment to each other out of love. The partners habitually spend time together, share resources and support each other in times of need. Dr. Lynn Winsten, a Berkeley Psychologist & Therapist, acknowledges that healthy relationships are an essential element to having a good life because our lives have more depth and meaning when we feel cared for and love others.
Every relationship faces problems; disagreements or conflict is a natural aspect of human nature. However, many people maintain harmful connections that only bring anguish and prevent them from feeling true happiness. These constant problems not only impact our mental health but also affect our physical health. It’s important to work on oneself in individual therapy, especially if a romantic relationship is causing pain and suffering.
Table of Contents
Categories of Relationship Problems
Relationships need hard work from both partners for them to prosper. Like vehicles, relationships need regular maintenance to enable them to work well. From years of experience as a psychologist, Dr. Winsten knows it takes courage to face our fears, emotions, and experiences, but by doing so, individuals can learn to accept and love themselves as well as others. Many people in relationships are faced with the below issues.
Arguments
Arguments in relationships begin with a small protest such as, “You didn’t wash the dishes” and then progress into condemnation. People in relationships should create time on a regular basis to talk openly and respectfully about any issues before they build up to arguments.
Communication
Individuals in relationships have diverse communication styles, such as talkers versus non-talkers. Others may have communicated well in the past, but with time have stopped listening to each other or expressing their feelings openly.
Growing Apart
It is complicated when one person in the relationship changes. However, your relationship can work if you talk to each other and agree that as individuals, you want different things, but have enough that keeps you connected as a pair.
Infidelity
Relationships can be rebuilt or destroyed after an affair. It is good to take your time to learn lessons from previous experiences, to analyze what was happening before and during the time of infidelity. Of course, regaining trust after infidelity takes time and hard work for both people in a relationship.
Trauma
External pressures and previous or new trauma can have an impact on our relationships. Therefore, it’s important to deal with any trauma by seeking therapy and letting your partner know you are struggling with difficult emotions.
Appreciation
When one partner is not giving enough time to the relationship, by working long hours, for example, one can end up feeling unacknowledged or abandoned.
Sex
Several sexual problems may need professional medical help, which can either be via dialogue with your GP or by speaking to a trained therapist. Occasionally, you may feel that your sexual expectations are not fulfilled. You should, therefore, find ways in which you can communicate with your partner about sex openly, without fear or prejudice.
Money
Financial problems can be a burden for many relationships. It’s helpful to communicate often and openly about finances and to be aware of any financial setbacks. It’s also necessary to formulate plans to ensure financial situations don’t change your love for one another. Also, sharing sensitive issues, such as past or present debt, with one another will help build trust.
Boredom
Relationships naturally change over time, and it is normal to feel excitement during the first year or so of a relationship, which then can become neutralized after that initial phase. However, companionship, compatibility, shared history and knowing someone inside out – rather than passion – are most valuable in long-term relationships.
Children
Having children means less time for one another, and it can add stress and busy-ness to a relationship. Try to find time for each other despite parenthood. Maintaining that connection will benefit your relationship as well as the children.
Lynn Winsten, will assist with these situations and guide anyone facing these dilemmas through the process of recognizing, acknowledging, altering, and handling each relationship issue. Whether it’s assistance with communication, trauma, or trust, seeking therapy can help you improve your own mental health and skills, which can improve the relationship.
What is Relationship Therapy?
Relationship therapy enables two people involved in a romantic relationship to find a resolution of conflict and progress their relationship satisfaction by creating awareness and applying therapeutic arbitration. We seek to see a relationship therapist out of a need for personal growth and exploration. Though the practice of this therapy may differ from other styles, all therapists are likely to involve the following general elements:
- Focus on a specific problem, such as sexual difficulties, substance abuse, internet addiction, jealousy, infidelity or financial challenges.
- Active participation in treating the relationship itself rather than treating each individual separately.
- A solution-focused approach that consists of finding out why the relationship became the way it did.
- A comprehensive establishment of treatment.
How does Individual Therapy Help Relationships?
When your relationships are not functional, it is advisable to reach out to a relationship therapist or individual therapist for help.
Working with a Berkeley Psychologist will begin with several typical interview questions based on the client’s family history, values, origin, cultural environment, and the narration of the relationship. Following this, the therapist helps the client identify the issues that will be the focus of treatment.
Improving as an individual will oftentimes improve the relationship. It will help the client be aware of their role in the deteriorated connections, thereby enabling them to change the way they perceive the relationship and their partner. One of the most crucial aspects of therapy involves changing behaviors and habits of interaction with others. This San Francisco therapist will often assign homework to help clients apply the skills they have learned in treatment to their day-to-day interactions.
In the course of accepting your current patterns of relating, she can help you replace the toxic patterns of anger, defensiveness, and withdrawal with genuine expressions of the underlying emotional needs for love, support, protection, and comfort. Ultimately, by working with her, partners can learn to create intimacy and connection in their lives, survive a conflict like infidelity or addiction, learn how to talk as well as listen and understand how their personal history impacts the relationship.
Conclusion
Therapy is a fundamental part of a relationship and should be taken seriously for bonds to be long-lasting.
Therapy brings out the best in you and in the relationship by enabling you to restore a secure attachment bond to your partner as you practice new forms of relating to and caring for self and others.
When you are facing troubles in your relationships, finding it difficult to communicate effectively or having a sentiment of things falling apart, therapy can be an important key to relationship success. Take the first step by entrusting the services of Dr. Lynn Winsten, psychologist & therapist from Berkeley, California. She will give you relationship tools as well as a calm, safe and non-judgmental space to restore and rebuild your relationship.
