Are You Down On Love?
Are you struggling to attract a partner, grieving over a long string of failed relationships or feeling unsatisfied in your current relationship? Do you perpetually feel empty and alone and long for a deep, intimate connection with another? Perhaps you suffer from social anxiety, making even the idea of conversations with members of the opposite sex feel frightening or impossible.
Or, maybe you are playing out old, harmful patterns in your current relationship and wonder how to break out of them. Maybe you fear leaving your partner and feel stuck, isolated or trapped. Have you wondered why most everyone else has happily partnered off while you’re still alone or struggling to maintain a relationship? Do you wish you could find and create a relationship in which you feel accepted, loved and safe?
Struggling in love can be a frustrating, lonely and self-defeating experience. Whether you can’t seem to attract a partner, struggle to maintain a healthy relationship or feel unsatisfied in your current romantic situation, you may be wondering if you’re doing something wrong or if there is something fundamentally wrong with you. It can be exhausting, overwhelming and deeply unsatisfying to keep trying to begin and maintain a loving relationship – especially when those around you seem to have their relationships all figured out. While you may desperately want to find your soul mate and experience unconditional love, as the years tick away, you might be starting to worry that it’s just not going to happen for you.
Many People Struggle Finding And Nurturing Love
If you’re having a hard time finding and maintaining a healthy, loving relationship, you are not alone. With divorce rates at roughly 50 percent for first marriages, many people are coming back into the dating scene after years of hiatus. There are so many people bumping up against all the challenges that come with meeting someone new and then trying to navigate a relationship with all the baggage collected over time. Social anxieties around dating prevent many people from finding companionship. Meanwhile others, who do pair up, stay in unsatisfying relationships out of family or financial obligations or the fear of being alone
In our culture, there is not a lot of focus on learning how to build and sustain healthy relationships. Many people grow up with poor role models, are affected by cultural influences that encourage individualistic thinking and, more recently, have become disconnected from a larger community by the technology that limits face-to-face contact.
While many people experience ups and downs in dating and relationships and eventually figure it out, some of us need a little extra help to determine what we want in a relationship and how to achieve it. If you’re in the midst of a string of failed relationships, engaging in obsessive thinking about your unhappiness in love or feeling miserable about your current love life, relationship counseling can help.
Relationship Counseling Can Help You Express Feelings And Needs So You Can Find The Love You’re Looking For
There is always hope for love…
In compassionate and nonjudgmental relationship counseling sessions, your therapist can provide you with the safe space you need to talk through your relationship struggles. Together, you can identify, explore and address the root issues and patterns you’ve developed over time that may be keeping you from finding and maintaining the healthy, loving relationship you desire. Whether you’re single, in between relationships or contemplating leaving your current relationship, relationship counseling can help you find clarity, set goals and create a new path forward.
While many of us struggle with similar relationship issues, everyone comes into therapy with a different history, varying needs and unique desires and goals. We will tailor-create an approach to address and support your specific needs. If you’re struggling to meet a potential partner, you can work on strength building, interpersonal and communication skills and learning how to relate to members of the opposite sex. If you’ve created a serial pattern of unhealthy relationships, we can examine the similarities between your past partners and why you are attracted to certain traits. We can explore the root causes of your failed relationships, challenge unhealthy thinking and behavioral patterns while helping you build self-esteem, set goals and create a new path forward. If you’re unhappy in your current relationship, your therapist can offer support and guidance as you take an honest and holistic look at your relationship and make a thoughtful decision about how to proceed.
Regardless of your specific situation, relationship counseling can provide you with a place to express your emotions and needs, discover your strengths and increase your self-confidence. With help and support, you can stop engaging in destructive or ineffective patterns. It is possible to create a loving, healthy relationship with both another person and yourself.
Although you may truly want something different for yourself when it comes to love, you still may have questions or concerns about relationship counseling…
I’m worried that I’ll learn that something really is wrong with me…
It’s not unusual for people to be afraid about what they may discover in counseling. Some people even believe that only “crazy” people go to therapy. At the Relationship Center of Michigan, we only work with “normal” people who are seeking harmony and love in their lives. In sessions, we’ll help you learn more about yourself and work through the past issues that may be affecting your relationships today. By putting in the time and effort, you can begin living a fuller, more authentic and happier life. When you are happier with yourself, you can naturally attract the right partner, bringing happiness to you both.
I’m afraid that I’ll feel judged if I talk openly about my relationship struggles.
Many people worry about what their counselor might think of them. This is understandable because you may be sharing things about yourself that you’ve never told anybody else. However, at the Relationship Center of Michigan, we create a safe, nonjudgmental place where you can fully be yourself. We are respectful, genuine and empathetic and will never tell you how to live your life. We are here to support you and help you reach your goals.
I’ve tried therapy in the past, and it didn’t help. How will relationship counseling be any different?
If you’ve tried therapy before without success, it’s not uncommon to feel discouraged. However, it’s possible that your therapist was not trained in relationship issues or that the therapist was not a good fit for you. We’ve been helping people with relationship issues for more than 20 years, and our staff has been trained in styles of relationship counseling that have been proven, both though experience and in studies, to be highly effective.
You don’t have to continue to navigate your relationship issues on your own. We invite you to call us for a free 15-minute phone consultation to discuss your specific situation and to answer any questions you have about relationship counseling and our practice.
