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Relational Counseling

All healthy relationships, whether with romantic partners, friends, or family, begin with a healthy relationship with oneself. This is the most enduring relationship we will ever have, and it sets the foundation for all other connections. If we are not in a healthy relationship with ourselves, it's difficult to expect healthy relationships with others. Through relationship counseling, we can explore your unique patterns of relating, break free from limiting behaviors learned in childhood, and develop adaptive communication styles and healthy boundaries. By focusing on your individual journey of self-discovery and healing, we can empower you to create healthier, more fulfilling relationships with yourself and others.

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It starts with you..

Are you noticing recurring patterns in your relationships? Do you find yourself constantly choosing partners with similar characteristics, or experiencing the same issues in different relationships? These patterns might be rooted in your attachment styles, which are formed early in childhood and significantly impact how we relate to ourselves and others. When we have unmet needs and unresolved attachment styles, such as insecure or avoidant, they often surface in our most significant relationships.

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Through relational counseling, we can explore these attachment styles and address underlying issues, including codependency, to improve your interactions with others and yourself. By understanding your unique patterns of relating to others, and addressing any misalignments in these patterns, you can create healthier and more fulfilling connections. All healthy relationships begin with self. Let's work together to break free from unhealthy patterns and build stronger, more satisfying connections.

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Making a Heart
Making a Heart

Codependency

Codependency is a way of relating to others through a pattern of unhealthy relational behaviors that stem from unresolved emotional attachments and traumas. 

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Symptoms of Codependency:​

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  • Control: A need to your partner (others) to feel safe and secure.

  • People-pleasing: A strong desire to be liked and approved of by others/strong fear of disapproval or rejection.

  • Difficulty setting boundaries: Struggling to say "no" or express personal needs.

  • Guilt and shame: Feelings of guilt or shame for not meeting others' expectations or for the actions of other people.

  • Fear of abandonment: Intense fear of being alone or rejected, "clinging" to relationships.

  • Fear of commitment: Intense fear of letting people in, avoiding or breaking off relationships despite desiring them.

  • Caretaking: Taking on excessive responsibility for others' problems, neglecting self.

  • Avoidance: Intense fear of conflict or confrontation, keeping the peace at all costs.​​

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Notice how some symptoms are contradictory? Codependency shows up differently based on the root attachment trauma and the fears that were subsequently formed. But the result is the same - unhealthy and painful relational patterns that prevent us from forming healthy, meaningful relationships.  

Ready for the good news?  - Codependency is a learned behavior that can be unlearned with therapy and self-awareness. By understanding the patterns of codependency, individuals can break free from unhealthy relationships and develop healthier ways of relating to themselves and others.

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