Individual counseling for relationship issues can be a powerful tool for reclaiming your life and your happiness. This type of therapy can be helpful for a variety of relationship problems including:
Relationship problems with significant others such as:
- A spouse
- Dating partners
- A family member (e.g., parent, sibling, in-law)
Relationship transitions:
- Support through divorce
- Transition to parenthood
Role strain:
- Work/life balance
- Balance between your roles as a spouse and as a busy professional
- Balance between your roles as a parent and the caretaker for an aging parent
MAJOR TOPICS COVERED IN THIS KIND OF THERAPY INCLUDE:
- Your family and relationship history
- Your relationship patterns including dysfunctional patterns that may be continuing to persist today
- Negative individual factors (e.g., personality traits, your worldview, past trauma) that may have a negative impact on the health of your relationships
- Your strengths (e.g., personality traits, overcoming past challenges) that we can build on to help improve the health of your relationships
- Specific behaviors that you may be doing or not doing that are holding you back from having better relationships
- Difficult thoughts or emotions that you’re struggling with related to your relationship problems (e.g., doubting your self worth)
- Establishing healthy boundaries with toxic people in your life
- Acceptance of relationships that may be beyond repair
- Decisions and strategies for your relationships going forward (e.g., deciding what kind of relationship you want to have, if any, with a toxic parent; deciding if forgiveness is a goal for you)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL COUNSELING FOR RELATIONSHIP ISSUES
Can I do individual counseling even though the problems are with my relationship with my significant other?
Absolutely! If you are in a serious relationship or married, you are welcome to do individual counseling to help work on these issues.
Couples counseling is generally ideal for addressing relationship issues but individual counseling can be a good alternative depending on the circumstances.
In fact, there are times when this option may be a better one than couples therapy.
For example, if your partner is refusing to attend therapy with you or cannot attend for some reason (e.g., frequent work travel) then it may be best to do therapy on your own.
Changes in one person can have an impact on the whole relationship and help improve things all around.
Also, you should keep in mind that there is the option of doing individual therapy and later doing couples therapy if the situation changes with your partner.
Can I do individual counseling and have my partner, family member, or friend occasionally join session?
Yes, this is an option. Particularly when the person who you would like to join session is the other half of the valued relationship that you’ve come to therapy to help repair.
Many clients in individual therapy want to maintain their case as an individual one and keep it as their own private space to work on issues, but also want to have the occasional session with an important person in their life.
In this case, preparation would need to be made for such sessions. We will work on this together and ensure that the third person feels safe, valued, and respected.
Paperwork would also need to be signed authorizing permission for this.
Resources:
City-Data Singles in the U.S. – By Dr. April McDowell
The Best Online Dating Sites – By Reviews.com
