RELATIONSHIP THERAPY
for INDIVIDUALS

Who’s it for?

Relationship therapy differs from couples therapy in that I will just be meeting with you. Perhaps you could benefit from having a space to reflect on dating patterns, past relationships, heartache, your current relationship or marriage, as well as non-romantic relationships and dynamics with friends, coworkers, and family members. It can be a practice that inspires accountability, exploration, healing, and growth for anyone wanting to work on their relationships.

We can explore:

  • Root causes of unhealthy repeated patterns across personal and family relationships

  • How your or your partner’s past may be creating barriers to connection in the present

  • How to shift negative relationship dynamics and make repairs when disconnections occur

  • Healthy communication and self-expression

  • Developing self-awareness and self-love to support your relationships

  • Releasing shame and building a positive self-image after rejection

  • Support if you or your partner are in the midst of a significant life transition

  • Fears and needs related to intimacy

  • Healing from infidelity

  • How to set healthy boundaries

  • The practice of forgiveness

  • Working with emotions such as fear, jealousy, and loneliness

  • Letting go of blame, criticism, and efforts to control others

  • Nourishing deep understanding between you and your partner(s)

  • Emotion regulation to help you confidently deal with challenging or stressful emotions and relationship conflicts as they arise without compromising your integrity

“We act out what we can't see or understand unless the light of awareness and compassion extinguishes the dark places that keep us wounded and unavailable.”

— Diane Poole Heller

Our triggers let us know where deeper healing needs to happen

You may ask yourself, “Why do I act from this place?” “Is there something wrong with me?” When we look at the scars, whether recent or early emotional wounds, we can understand why we developed the strategies we have chosen to guard against more wounding.

It is certainly not always indicated that we should look to the past for the roots of all present day suffering; however, it is very common in therapy to identify issues from early upbringing as the source of pain in current relationships. These injuries or relational trauma can also come from adult relationships. Many of these events or patterns go unrecognized as there are overt and covert, or less obvious causes, of attachment trauma. So, don’t count your pain out.

Our earliest bonds shape the template for how we approach relationships later in life. However, we can learn to identify and work with our triggers and develop enough awareness to know when they are rising up and not be seized by them.

Your nervous system is constantly learning how to be in relationship with others. It has learned what is and is not safe and formed strategies to protect you (flight, fight, freeze, fawn). The good news is, this system can be updated at any time. This work and self-exploration can support you across all relationships in your life.

(If this resonates with you, visit the Attachment Trauma and Wounds page for more on this type of healing work.)

green symmetrical leaves

Learning and gaining ownership over your attachment patterns can help you and your partner feel more attuned.

Are you stuck in a dating cycle that is causing more harm than connection?

Two hands reaching towards each other from opposite directions

Has an experience of pain, betrayal, or rejection caused you to go so far from feeling comfortable as yourself? You are tired of being alone and want to experience intentional connection, intimacy, security, and partnership but are deeply afraid of being hurt again. Dating can be challenging, and struggling with self-worth is human. You are not alone.

It is an incredibly vulnerable thing to put your heart out in this world.

If you feel like giving up trying to put yourself back out there, healing from heartbreak takes time. A balance of slowly bringing fragments together and slowly letting go. Do not let your past convince you that you are not worthy of finding the love you desire.

Therapy can provide a safe space for you to:

  • Uncover and tend to heartache and wounds from dating relationships

  • Grieve the loss of an important relationship

  • Work with stored emotions and pain to disband triggers; you have to feel it to heal it

  • Practice self-love; learn to pour the unconditional love, encouragement, and acceptance you show others into your own heart

  • Build resilience in the face of rejection so you don’t spiral into self-doubt

  • Learn about your attachment histories and how to create secure and fulfilling bonds

  • Clarify your values and visions of partnership and intimacy, and how to look for alignment with potential partners

  • Feel empowered to choose forms of connection that serve you best

Arms of two people holding hands connecting in front of a tree