Relationships and Communication Building Counseling
Heber & Park City Marriage Counseling
Whether your intimate relationship is struggling, you are stressed with parenting challenges including trying teens, it seems hard to find your voice with problematic in-laws, or there are anger management issues, here are some tips and tools that we would implement in treatment to improve and strengthen relationships:
Defining Problems as Well As Strengths
It is easy to point fingers and focus on what the other person involved is doing wrong. We can all recall moments when we are listening to what our partner is telling us we are doing wrong, and it is our immediate response to defend and attack back. We will work on skill building as well as using our strengths to fight that urge to fight back in the moment out of insecurity, but rather listen, validate and work on ourselves.
Drop the Scorecard
No relationship can succeed if we treat it like a team or game; keeping track of every nicety that we provide, and remembering every wrong committed against us. Instead, we will focus on how to focus less on self, more on partner, family and the family unit as a whole.
Communicating Needs and I-Statements
Some basic communicating skills that we will begin to cultivate will be to focus on not just the tone and emotion of our communication, but the words themselves. This tip includes spending time thinking about what we are saying, how to word it so that our needs are met, without any unnecessary harm.
Lose the If-Then
It is easy to get into a maladaptive pattern of thinking where we begin looking at our marriages and relationships as simple partnerships…if I do the dishes, then you scratch my back. This is appropriate in a work relationship: if I work, then you pay me. But in our intimate relationships, learning to cultivate a less self-centered approach is often crucial to family success.
If you or a loved one is struggling with relationship issues please call for a free consultation to see if our services are a good fit:
435-657-5050