Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy for Relationship Difficulties

Relationships are complex and no two are ever the same. The pressures of modern life can put a huge amount of stress on us, resulting in arguments and miscommunications with those around us and this can leave us feeling angry, disappointed, rejected and lonely. As a Psychoanalytical therapist my focus is on how relationships are an essential aspect of your emotional well-being. I am interested in listening to your unique, individual story and trying to help you understand how past experiences, often from childhood affect the way you view yourself and the way you relate to others.

Do I need help with my relationship difficulties?

• Do you keep choosing unsuitable partners, or maybe you worry you’ve made the wrong choice?
• Are you struggling to relate to your children, or finding it hard to communicate with your family?
• Perhaps you find you are constantly at loggerheads with your  boss at work?
• Maybe you are having trouble connecting with friends or colleagues?

Relationships are complicated and however good they are, our connections with other people can be problematic from time to time. Managing relationships in our personal, family or working lives is not always straightforward. Problems or conflicts are a natural and normal part of forming bonds and partnerships with others.

Some common relationship difficulties that psychotherapy can help with include:

Issues that can come up in any relationship

• Difficulty trusting others
• Lack of confidence
• Difficulties with commitment and forming lasting relationships
• Feelings of rejection and experiencing jealousy
• Fear of separation and abandonment
• Arguments and conflict – power struggles and boundaries
• Problems with communicating and unable to clearly define your needs
• Recognising a repetition of unhelpful pattern from the past

Relationship with partner

• Feelings of dissatisfaction in the relationship and drifting apart
• Concerns about children, pregnancy and fertility
• Sexuality/sexual performance
• Infidelity -coping with another’s infidelity or being the one who is or has been unfaithful
• Relationship breakup, separation and divorce
• Difficulties with depression – impact on your relationship or living with a partner suffering from depression

Family Life

• Concerns about children, pregnancy and fertility
• Parenting difficulties – differing parenting styles
• Considering adopting together
• Facing life transitions-arrival of a new child ,children growing up or leaving home
• Impact on children of couple separation or break up
• Conflict within wider family – difficulties in relationships with parents or siblings

Trouble in working relationships

• Dealing  with anger and conflict at work
• Difficulties with communication
• Struggles with Assertiveness & Setting of Boundaries
• Managing relationships with colleagues and managers
• Getting caught up in  competition and power struggles
• Bullying or harassment in the workplace

Ideally strong and lasting relationships are built upon good communication but this is not always easy and sometimes having someone to talk to outside of our relationship can be very helpful. If you find that you struggle with an issue within an important relationship, psychotherapy can help to work through the challenge you are facing.

Why psychoanalytic psychotherapy for relationship problems?

Psychoanalytic psychotherapy simply starts with your unique experience and creates conditions for a therapeutic relationship to grow in which the multiple meanings of this experience are explored. It is a method of treatment that works by helping you understand how we unconsciously create problematic patterns of thinking, feeling, acting, and relating. These patterns usually recreate problems and solutions from early intimate relationships. Like never forgetting how to ride a bike, we never forget how we were first loved. The moment to moment relationship between therapist and patient offers an opportunity for experiencing and understanding those early relationships patterns.  I don’t tell you what to do or offer advice. I hope to encourage your curiosity about your inner world so that by understanding your own story and exploring the ways in which you limit yourself, you can change the way you see yourself and the world.

Psychotherapy for relationship problems in London

I see my role as facilitating your own process of discovery which will help you make informed choices about the way you conduct your  life and  develop more meaningful relationships with other people.

Some useful information about managing difficulties in relationships

Mental Health Foundation
A helpful article on how relationships impact on and underpin our wellbeing
MHF

New York Times
An article on the ‘Importance of Human Relationships’