Who should go to marriage counseling

Posted by Anna on 12 October 2009

In life and in any relationship there will be conflict.Naturally there will be some that are much worse than some others.  In a marriage these conflicts can lead to serious consequences.The toughest part is being able to know when is the right time to seek counsel. Because you don’t want to jump for a counselor from one argument.But you must know when you may need it.So what tells you when it will be needed?

That is a hard question.  As a San Diego marriage counselor helping people has allowed me to see who needs it.Because sometimes there will be a situation when it isn’t needed.But the counseling that takes place is usuallly pretty beneficial.But a sign that help may be needed is if the couple has very little communication.  If couples are fighting but still trying to work it out that is good.  But if the only time a couples talks is when they fight they need help. There is no communication there.And being able to know how to communicate is an important factor to fixing it.

Another tell tale sign is the coupel wanting to have nothing to do with the other person. That seems obvious but if a couple hates being in the same room with each other they need help.  I have seen a lot of couples come to that point while helping in couples therapy San Diego.If you can sense hatred, that is not a good sign.  This can lead to more harmful effects in the relaltionship.

Finally another sign I have seen doing marriage counseling San Diego is when it starts effecting the whole family.  If there are kids involved and you can see the emotional effects it is causing that couple needs help.It is bad enough the fights, but as soon as the children start getting affected they need to seek counsel.  They should avoid allowing the fighting to ruin the family.  If it does counseling is needed.

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Family life and how it can be improved by anger management

Posted by Anna on 12 October 2009

One thing that all people have is their emotions.Some people tend to display more of these emotions just like an extrovert.Some emotions can be good when displayed like happiness.  Some people show emotions of excitement and happiness.Other people show anger and sadness more. Most people experience these emotions but sometimes they get out of hand. Anger is one of these emotions.

As you have read in this article anger can be dangerous and detrimental to family life. In my practice doing anger management counseling I have seen the effects it can have on a family. It could make living with the person very uncomfortable. It could make everybody afraid to say the wrong thing. It can turn a place of safety into a place where there is always negativity and anger. That place of safety is called the home. 

Strange as it may seem but in a few cases this anger stems from some sort of depression. Whatever the case may be a person might be in a depressed mode. Often times it leads to anger when some problems seem unsolvable or there is no way out. That is why I advice everyone feeling depression to seek a depression counseling. It is best to stop something before it escalates into something worse. After all it might not lead to anger but maybe to something worse where they hurt themselves. 

Either way these two emotions whether they stem from each other have to be dealt with. If you let either of the two emotions get the best of you and do not seek help then it will definitely get worse.It will destroy your relationship with your family. It can destroy relationships.  Being a family counselor in San Diego I stress the importance of good relationships in family life. So obviously I stress dealing with all emotional issues immediately. Sometimes it is hard to go to someone for help. But this can be very helpful in the long especially for the family of and the person affected.

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Unhappy Relationship 3 Things You Can Do About It

Posted by Christopher on 01 May 2009

Unhappy Relationship 3 Things You Can Do About It

Unhappy relationships are an inevitable part of romance, and their causes are numerous. Sometimes, a commitment is made and that once made, it can be hard to leave an unhappy situation. You may feel that you have to stay in order to support your loved ones, that you are unable to leave for any number of reasons. You find that you are making a number of excuses to stay in a situation that is not good for you.

If you are facing an unhappy relationship, then there are three things you need to do. Firstly, you can do nothing and maintain things just as they are. You will continue on your path of misery, those around you will become miserable, and you will continue along this path until you are in the worst of situations. So why does this situation occur? It is the simplest thing to do. It is easy to not do anything about the situation, and very hard to turn a bad partnership or unhappy relationship around. While it may seem noble, it is a bad decision to try and stay.

Out of the three, the other option which involves staying in the relationship is to fix things. This step requires a full commitment, anything less is as bad, if not worse, than trying to stick things out. This step requires that your partner is also committed in full to repair of the situation. This is the most challenging of the situations, but can lead to the best situation. Any changes made here will be lasting and permanent. If your partner is not committed towards the repair of the unhappy relationship, then all attempts to repair things will fail.

The last possibility is to leave. This is also very hard since people will make excuses in order to stay. Sometimes, however, it is a matter of ending the relationship before things become irreparable. Unhappiness, fighting, depression, and many other factors eventually come out of an unhappy relationship. This will not only bring you and your loved ones great suffering, but it will also negatively affect those around you are well. You have to overcome everything that is holding you back and take that first step towards resolving the matter.

If you need one, you should seek out the aide from a therapist or a coach. Mental hindrances in an unhappy relationship can be taken care of with the help of a therapist. If you need to work strategies for repairing your situation, then you should instead get a coach, someone who will work with you to develop strategies and get the success you need.

An unhappy relationship will mean one of three possibilities. You will either stay or suffer, you will repair things with your ex, or you will move out and move on. Therapists and coaches provide technical support while your family and friends will provide you with the support network you need when you make. All it takes is an effort to do what is right for you and your loved ones.

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Surviving A Breakup-Difficult But Doable

Posted by Christopher on 13 April 2009

Surviving A Breakup-Difficult But Doable

A breakup is a difficult thing to deal with, and it is hard on you and your ex. There are a great number of hurt emotions and feelings, and the act of surviving a breakup will involve a great deal of personal strength. This task may seem daunting, especially with a big void in your chest. You cannot easily fill that void with anything, it is that painful and difficult to handle. What you should consider, however, is that you are not the first couple to break up and you will not be the last. You should take solace in that you and your partner will survive and will be moving forward.

When you are faced with the task of trying to surviving a breakup, there are a number of tips which will lead you towards surviving the breakup. The first step is to not bottle up the pain. One cannot go through life without pain. Breaking up with a loved one is emotionally the same as the death of one. You should know that you will be hurt and that it is okay to break down a little and cry as needed. You should write down stuff, you should scream, you should do whatever is needed to let all of the pain out and move on.

Once you have reached a clear and calm state, you are now ready to evaluate things and try and find out where you and your partner are in the relationship. Knowing where you are will allow you and yours to make the right decision. More times than not, you will find that the relationship is truly over. This is something that you and your ex partner needs to come to terms with. Once you are at terms with things, you take the next step.

When you have come to the decision not to let the relationship continue, you and your ex needs to remove the overlaps in your lives. This includes property that you two have exchanged and are left at the other’s home. This sort of negotiation and separation is to ensure that nothing is left as an emotional landmine later on in your lives. Once the two of you have completely separated, then what you should do is to perform a finalizing ritual. This is a symbolic event which will involve letting an effigy of your ex go, via destroying it or some other task. You could burn one of their letters, their photo, throw away their leftovers, and delete their files off your computer and so on. This symbolic gesture is for your benefit.

At this point, you should use whatever support that is available to you. This can be friends, family, and other loved ones that can provide an emotional support net for you. Even though you have done what you can to soften the blow of the break up, you will still face turbulence. As a result you will need all of the help you can get as you are surviving a breakup.

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Seven Basic Steps to Learn How to Save a Relationship

Posted by Christopher on 17 February 2009

He works many, many hours and she feels as if he isn’t there for her when she needs him. She spends all of her time meeting the children’s needs and he feels that she doesn’t have time for his needs?  Can this relationship be saved?  Should it be saved?  Here’s how to save a relationship.

You need to make a decision on your realtionship, is it worth the time and effort to save it? While almost every relationship can be saved with hard work, both parties must decide that they want to make it work.  Because if a partner has opted out and doesn’t want to opt back in, there is little that can be done.

Are you one of those people that are only in a relationship or marriage because of the kids or maybe it’s just too much trouble to start all over again? But that is not enough.  How to save a relationship starts with a commitment by both parties that the relationship is worth saving.

You have to figure out what the problems are in the relationship. One of the biggest problems in how to save a relationship is that people believe the symptoms of the problem are the problem itself.

Most will think having an affair is the reason for break ups. In truth, the affair is a symptom of a deeper problem.  For instance, a lack of true intimacy can lead to a straying spouse.  While most people look at the affair as the problem, the underlying cause of the affair was the lack of intimacy in the primary relationship.  If you do not deal with the lack of intimacy, you might be able to keep another affair from starting through the use of guilt, but another problem (for instance pornography) could pop up because you haven’t dealt with the core issue.

Once you have decided what the real issues are in your relationship your can begin to save it.

Now that the reasons for the relationship break up have been discovered you can start discussing them. This means both verbalizing your own feelings and listening to your partner’s concerns.  Hold your partner’s had when you are talking about your problems as a signal that you want to reconnect even when your emotions are swirling.  When your partner talks about things that hurt you remember that he or she is not doing it because he or she wants to hurt you.   Rather it is because they want to improve the relationship.

Now finish dealing your problems so you create a plan to better thinhs. Then, take concrete steps on your action plan.  If you don’t spend time together like you used to, plan a date night every week.  Take turns coming up with creative ways to spend an evening together each Wednesday.  If not communicating is the problem, commit to spending 20 minutes before going to bed just talking to one another.  And, then do it.

Last but not least, you should have discoverd that by saving a relationship it is a daily adventure to keep things running smoothly. You are going to take two steps forward only to take one step back.  There is going to be both laughter and tears going forward.  Be quick to apologize and slow to blame.

Did this article help you decide if your relationship may be worth saving?

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