Relationships
Relationship stress directly triggers our nervous system arousal, often heightening our anxiety, lowering our emotional resilience, and with it our mood and our self-esteem. As humans, we need supportive and loving relationships in our lives. They can exist in many shapes and forms and across a lifetime, they thread us into multiple connections with other people. They can affect our health, our happiness, they create a sense of belonging and connection which improves our sense of self and adds meaning to our lives.
All kinds of relationships
Types of relationships, in the widest sense, include those with our partners, immediate family, friends, work colleagues, neighbours, activity groups, extended family, and our wider community. The degree to which we feel connected can affect our sense of personal inner resilience. Difficulties in relationships is what brings many people to counselling:
- Intimate relationships, improving communication, conflict, physical and emotional closeness, trust and betrayal, relationship breakdown and separation, dating
- Relationships in the workplace – with managers and peers, bullying, power dynamics, personality clashes, how to be assertive and improve boundaries
- Family – history or present day issues – see my page on Family Counselling
- Other social relationships – especially friendships, setting healthy boundaries, loss of a friendship due to falling out or moving away or simply drifting apart, conflict avoidance, loneliness
What is a healthy relationship?
- Both people listen and make an effort to understand each other
- Both people acknowledge their mistakes and take responsibility for them
- Both people feel like they can relax and be their true selves in front of the other
What is an unhealthy or abusive relationship?
One which includes:
- Name-calling or insults
- Patronising, public humiliation
- Blaming, threatening
- Jealousy, monitoring your movements or attempting to isolate you
- Trivialising your opinions and needs
While every relationship has its ups and downs, there is a big difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships. It is generally best to leave the relationship if:
- you’re being verbally or emotionally abused
- you feel manipulated and controlled
- you’ve been physically abused or feel threatened
- you feel isolated
- the person with a narcissistic personality shows signs of mental illness or substance abuse, but won’t get help
- your mental or physical health has been affected
Looking for some support and advice on relationship issues? (Apologies but I no longer do couples counselling, only one to one.)
Book a counselling session today!
https://corkpsychotherapyandtraumacentre.ie/stress/stress-and-relationships/
https://corkpsychotherapyandtraumacentre.ie/category/relationships/page/4/
https://corkpsychotherapyandtraumacentre.ie/relationships/couples-counselling-2/