We all need strong, healthy relationships to help us navigate life’s most challenging moments. Having someone in your life to help you celebrate your wins and encourages you during your setbacks is also healthy for your own mental health. As much as we may need them, relationships are still hard work to maintain.
Internal struggles, external pressures, and the influences of other people can take a severe toll on any healthy partnership. To deal with this, many people use the relationship counselling Melbourne locals resort to when they need help with their relationships.
Understanding the Benefits of Relationship Counselling
At its core, relationship therapy is a specific psychotherapy that’s aimed at analysing and solving various conflicts that may arise in your relationship. These issues can be between the partners or other external factors that are affecting your relationship. Our experts have compiled a list of some of the instances that relationship counselling may assist with.
1. Addressing Frequent Conflicts
One of the more common reasons a couple may opt for relationship counselling has to do with an increase in conflict. If you and your partner seem to be having arguments more frequently, it may be time to speak to a professional. This will help you get to the root cause and find a potential solution.
2. Dealing With Trust Issues
Trust is a crucial ingredient in maintaining a healthy relationship. When issues such as infidelity affect the level of trust, the couple may need outside assistance to resolve the issues.
A therapist will help you determine whether both parties want to go ahead with the relationship and what can be done to repair the damage. Techniques learnt can be valuable tools to help you throughout the rest of your relationship as well as those you have with other people.
3. Helping each Partner Cope With Specific Trauma
Trauma can take a serious toll on even the strongest relationships. This happens when each partner is trying to process the trauma in their own way. The most common causes of trauma that may affect a relationship include the following:
- The loss of a child
- Serious illness
- An accident of one of the partners that affects the family’s financial situation
- Crime or an act of violence
- Unresolved past trauma
4. Adjusting to Non-Traditional Relationships
Relationships change and what people want from them also evolves over time. This can mean that you and your partner have decided to explore relationship options such as polyamory or and open marriages, there may be a few adjustment issues.
A therapist will help you identify and address issues such as mistrust, jealousy, and constant comparison to the third person. While this type of relationship may be something you’ve both agreed on, it’s normal to feel a range of emotions as you navigate the new dynamic.
5. Dealing With a New Blended Dynamic
Starting a new relationship can be challenging enough in the easiest of circumstances. When one or both of the partners have children from another marriage or relationship, blending your new family can take some adjustment.
This is especially the case if external factors cause friction between one of the partners and the children or one of the ex-partners. Attending relationship counselling will assist you with techniques to navigate this new dynamic in a way that benefits everyone.
6. Assistance With Managing Other Relationships
The way you interact with other people in your lives can also affect your relationship with your partner. These relationships, such as those with colleagues or employers, may be causing your partner undue stress which affects your relationship.
There could also be difficulty creating boundaries with parents or friends. Your therapist will help you establish the types of boundaries needed and the best ways to create them.
7. Premarital Counseling to Assess the New Dynamic
It’s often difficult for couples to figure out the best ways to blend all the aspects of their lives if they’re getting ready to enter into marriage. This often happens when some issues such as those listed below are present:
- One or both partners have children and new living arrangements need to be considered.
- The decision to merge finances can be complicated.
- One of the partners is taking care of parents or other relatives and this may impact the new relationship.
- If both partners own property, decisions will need to be made about where they’re going to live.
Your therapist will help get these conversations started and guide you to address each issue. Doing this could go a long way toward avoiding issues down the line. It’s also an effective way to help the couple deal with the circumstances that each person enters the relationship with.
Final Thoughts
Relationship counselling is an effective way to deal with a wide range of issues that you and your partner have trouble dealing with. Finding constructive ways to deal with these challenges is an excellent way to strengthen your relationship and reduce stress and distrust. It’s well worth the investment.