When trust is broken, it’s common to feel devastated. Your therapist will help you recognize and healthily communicate your feelings.
Individuals seek couples therapy for a variety of reasons. These include persistent arguing, inability to find mutual resolve, waning emotional or physical intimacy, parenting differences, blaming and shaming, infidelity, and deceit.
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Communication
Many couples seek treatment because they are struggling with some issues. The most common reasons are emotional neglect, miscommunication, resentment, and infidelity. During therapy sessions, a therapist helps individuals identify unhealthy communication patterns and equips them with tools to improve them.
In addition to teaching effective communication skills, a therapist can help individuals address underlying issues contributing to emotional neglect in their relationship. For example, some people develop negative patterns of communication from their family of origin that they carry into their adult relationships. A therapist can help them recognize and break free from these negative patterns.
Couples therapy can also help couples navigate major life changes, such as deciding whether to have children or moving to a different home. In addition, a therapist can help couples work through challenges related to their finances and religion. If these life events are not addressed, they can lead to long-lasting problems in the relationship.
Conflict Resolution
Falling in love is one of the best feelings in life. Still, when it doesn’t last, and sticky issues like misunderstandings or heated arguments arise, it can lead to frustration and, ultimately, a breakdown in the relationship. Couples therapy Lafayette, LA can help couples learn how to communicate effectively during conflict and productive ways to resolve their differences.
Healthy conflict resolution includes validating your partner’s feelings during disagreements. Attempting to prove your point and arguing aggressively will only escalate the issue. Instead, therapists encourage participants to explore their underlying concerns to find a solution that satisfies both parties.
Often, recurring conflict and lack of communication prompt couples to seek professional assistance. A therapist can also help the couple determine if it is wise or healthy to remain together and how to deal with emotions that may make separation seem inevitable. This is a key part of the healing process.
Trust-Building Skills
Inevitably, there will be smaller but still upsetting injuries like forgetting an important date, name-calling during an argument, or simply not listening in a way that feels good to your partner. But there will also be bigger injuries, which are more likely to lead to major tension or even break up the relationship. These are called betrayal trauma or attachment wounds.
Couples therapy aims to help couples learn to build trust in healthy ways and heal core wounds. For example, some therapists recommend trying activities that take couples out of their comfort zones, like Acro Yoga or rock climbing together. These exercises can help them work through communication and trust issues in a safe environment.
Getting through these types of obstacles can give couples hope for their relationship. But it takes time and practice. Often, couples counseling will also involve learning and practicing new coping skills that can be applied to daily interactions.
Self-Esteem
For individuals exposed to trauma, past experiences can wreak havoc on their relationships. Couples therapy helps to repair damage and rebuild trust while fostering forgiveness and empathy between partners.
Even if you and your partner are in a relatively healthy relationship, couples counseling can help prevent potential issues from escalating into significant problems. In addition, therapists encourage increased self-awareness, allowing both individuals to identify and break unhelpful patterns.
For example, feeling that you must spend all of your free time with children or arguing about money may point to an underlying “should.” A therapist can help you discover these unhealthy beliefs and figure out where they came from so you can challenge them. Ultimately, this can improve your self-esteem and help you handle conflict with your partner better. Moreover, it can help you learn to trust your partner again and regain control of the relationship. Talkspace’s licensed therapists can work with you and your partner to understand each other’s needs and build a healthy, lasting relationship.
