Relationships

Happy and successful relationships are based on understanding and negotiation. Understanding yourself, who you are and what you are looking for, is most important. Secondly, spending quality time with your partner, in order to appreciate who they are and what they want is essential too. Knowing what each of you bring to the relationship and expect from it is a good starting point for the process of negotiation.

Couples who negotiate well have the happiest and most successful relationships. All couples have similarities and differences in what they want and expect from the relationship. If they work together to negotiate the differences a solution can normally be found. However if the couple compete, i.e. fight to win only for their own needs, it seems like every little thing becomes an argument. There are no winners, everyone including children and grandparents ends up losing.

Most of us don't give it much thought until something goes wrong. Suddenly we are confronted with a situation we don't know how to resolve.

How does counselling help?
Counselling provides a unique opportunity to explore what's (really) happening in your relationship in a safe place. If you repeat the same arguments without making progress then you need a fresh approach. Don't give up because it seems impossible to you.

Counsellors don't make decisions about your life, they help you to make them for yourself. We are trained professionals who understand the dynamics of human behaviour and emotion.

Every individual is unique, so every relationship will be unique too. Every new relationship means we are starting all over this is both good and bad. Falling in love is such an exciting part of life! It's all new and different and very exciting ! Anything that is very exciting is also very scary too!

Get help quickly - far too many couples want counselling as a last resort
Fear of being hurt is real for us all and we often avoid doing something to help ourselves because of it.

Here are some warning signs for couples - ask yourselves do you.

Your relationship will move progressively through these stages over time.