Many people think that Relationship Counselling or Relationship Therapy is just for couples. It’s not true! This specialist form of therapy can be just as beneficial to single individuals. Read on to find out why you should consider relationship counselling even if you’re not currently in a relationship….
- It can support you after a difficult break up. Sadly, before many people meet ‘The One’, and often even when you think you’ve met The One, relationships end. The end of a special relationship can be devastating, and often deeply traumatic if it comes out of the blue. Even if you were the one to choose to end things, it can still be distressing. We are often left with an endless mess of questions but no answers. What if I’d made more effort? Was it our sex life? Perhaps I should have done things differently? These questions can impact our mental wellbeing, affect our sleep and dent our self confidence. Relationship therapy can offer support through this difficult time, allowing you to make sense of where you are at and where things might have gone wrong. It can even help release you from overwhelming feelings of guilt, anger or blame which can often reside at the end of a relationship.
- It could help you understand why you choose the wrong partners. Let’s face it, we have all had relationships where other people try to warn us off someone but we just don’t want to hear it. Or perhaps you find yourself in love with the abusive or manipulative people again and again. We can even find ourselves repeatedly drawn to people who are already married or committed to someone else. These types of relationships can confuse and distress us. Why do we choose partners based on these seemingly irrational feelings? A skilled Relationship Therapist can help us to look at these patterns, explore what might be leading to them occurring, and support you with trying things a different way.
- It can provide confidence on the dating scene. Dating can be scary. Whether you are newly single, or have been on your own for a while, it can be hard to put yourself out there as available. These days there are a wide range of ways to meet people: blind dates, websites, apps, speed dating, matchmaking… all of them can make us feel weak at the knees and not always in a good sense! Having the support of relationship counselling during this time can provide a safe space to explore your feelings. The fear of rejection or of negative judgement from others is common, and a good therapist can help you question and work through this fear to a place which is more accepting.
- You can explore your sexual quirks or concerns in a safe environment. We don’t often feel able to discuss our sexual worries, even with our closest friends. Having worries about things like erectile dysfunction, body hang ups, or your own sexual orientation can lead us to feel deeply insecure and can hold us back from making new relationships. Relationship therapy places emphasis on sex and physical intimacy, and Couple Counsellors are pretty unshockable when discussing sexual issues! Having some relationship therapy can provide a safe and confidential place to explore your worries around sex and alleviate stress around meeting new sexual partners.
- You can explore other important, non-romantic relationships in your life. Perhaps your relationship with your parents has felt overwhelming at times. Or maybe you find you are the friend whose kindness gets taken advantage of. Or at work, are you always the last person in the office, who stays late and takes on more projects to seek approval? Our relationships with other people drive the way we feel about ourselves. Often stemming from childhood, we see ourselves in other people’s reflections and those reflections can often make us feel confused and unhappy. Relationship therapy doesn’t just focus on romantic relationships, but also provides an opportunity to look at how we relate to others in our lives. Making sense of these wider interactions can enable us to try and break away from unhelpful patterns of behaviour.
