Relationship and Couples Counselling
"At looking-glass counselling, we will work together to understand the roots of your relationship problems, explore your options together and help you gain insights into your personal situation while teaching you healthy communication skills to keep your discussions focused and fair."
What you can expect
Opportunities to discuss what you each see as the problems in the relationship, as well as its strengths, and examine existing patterns. Often there are long-standing issues that are causing current problems.
Exploration of your relationship story: how you met, what you saw in each other in the first place, some of the more important milestones and experiences you've shared, and where you are today.
The chance to express how you feel in a safe and contained setting and resolve conflict through effective communication.
Better your understanding of the impact of your own behaviours and what you could do differently in order for the relationship to withstand current and future issues.
Time to work on one or two specific problems you would like to solve, or work on changing the entire atmosphere of your relationship.
Is Couple's Counselling right for you?
Although you’re unhappy, or you know your partner is unhappy, which makes you unhappy, you might also feel that you or your partner are not unhappy enough for you to need to do anything about it. You might hope that, in time, things will change. But most problems have a corrosive effect and, over time, the rot sets in. It’s much more likely, if you put off taking action, that you’ll leave it for so long, one of you will have given up all hope. Don’t make this mistake.
Beginning any form of counselling is nerve-racking, but in my experience, people find it harder to start relationship or couples counselling than individual therapy. It can be hard enough to get your head around the idea of exposing your inner-most thoughts and feelings to a stranger, albeit one you trust will be supportive and non-judgemental, but even more daunting is the prospect of your partner being in the seat next to you, ready to react to and possibly rubbish what you feel you want to say!
You might be afraid that the truth will hurt your partner and threaten the relationship, and so you've been withholding your true feelings, or keeping a big secret, thinking you’re protecting them and the relationship. But, deep down, you know that, whatever it is that isn't being said, it’s hanging in the air, creating distance between you, and tearing your relationship apart. If you're honest with yourself, you're desperate to clear the air between you, but you just don't know how. I can help you.