Relationship Therapy

Relationship therapy helps people communicate more effectively and understand the dynamics of good associations. This involves improving skills such as being assertive, being diplomatic, resolving conflict, and listening well. It is difficult to be successful in the world, or at home, if you cannot interact with others capably.

Relationship therapy work is done in several therapeutic settings. Individual, couples, family, and peer group counseling are all successful venues. By Looking at the different types of relationship counseling, it will become clear what this therapy is about and how it might help you.

Individual Relationship Therapy

All individual therapies involve client-therapist interaction and the learning of life skills. Some therapies focus on the skills while others concentrate on the counselor and client bond.

Cognitive - Focus on Skills

Cognitive counseling helps clients release habits of thought that interfere with lasting connections, and teaches them the skill of thinking productively. Behavioral therapies address how people habitually act in everyday encounters with others. It helps them create relationship-friendly responses to situations and communications.

Focus on the Relationship

Psychodynamic, client-centered, and gestalt therapies focus on the relationship between client and counselor. As a trusting bond develops between the two, the client will risk being more open and authentic with their therapist, and eventually with others.

Family Counseling

Relationship family therapy happens between specific individuals in a family (i.e., mother and son; the parents) or between all the members of one family. Relationship therapy is an important pillar to family counseling.

The Family System

Family systems therapists treat families as a unit. They look for family behavior patterns that are not working, and help the family develop more serviceable ones. Because no member of a family is an island, no one is singled out as the cause of family conflict.

Child Parent Relationship Therapy

Specific parent and child relationship problems can be addressed by child, family, or individual therapists. Though these therapists work differently, understanding the feelings of the parties involved, and learning better ways of responding are common goals.

Couples and Marriage Counseling

Marriage and couples therapists focus on relationship issues between two people trying to become, or remain, intimate. Any licensed therapist can perform couples and marriage therapy though many therapists specialize in this area. Issues addressed include gender roles, trust and intimacy, and expectations.

Generally, the counselor will look for problematic habits of relating between the two clients. Sessions involve the teaching and practicing of communication skills, and learning to understand and manage the play of feelings and emotions between people. Some counselors take a more targeted approach to couples counseling, such as the Imago therapist.

Imago Relationship Therapy

Imago, in the psychology world, refers to an unconscious, idealized image we have of our parents. However, no parent is perfect, and no child gets all their needs perfectly met.

Adults unconsciously hope to get their unmet childhood needs taken care of by partnering with someone who matches their parent’s imago. Since we choose a partner like our parent, the partner will not meet those childhood needs any better than our mom or dad did. Partners then end up hurt, angry, and resentful to one another.

Oh, what a tangled web couples weave. Imago therapists help partners untangle the dynamics of their alliance and understand why they react to each other as they do. Then, they help each partner learn to drop the imago, and realistically be with the person of their choice.

Group Therapy

Every relationship therapy group involves skills and relationship dynamics but will likely concentrate on one over the other.

Skills Groups

The focus of a relationship skills group is learning more efficient ways to relate and communicate with others. The skills are practiced in the group session, and then members are asked to work on them during the week as well. Some groups will focus on a specific skill such as being more assertive.

Relationship Dynamics

Another type of relationship counseling group, very productive in improving rapport with others, emphasizes the interactions between group members. These therapy groups are often homogeneous in some way. For example, everyone in the group might be a professional between the ages of 25 and 45.

The emphasis is on the here and now exchange between participants who also provide feedback to each other. In this process, each person’s relating foibles comes to the forefront and is addressed by the therapist and group members. It can be uncomfortable to participate in a group like this but also extremely rewarding.

Good communication and relationship therapy skills make the difference between success and failure in most endeavors. Everyone reaches adulthood with well intentioned but ineffective habits of perceiving and responding. Having a better understanding of how to navigate relationships enhances the quality of our lives.

I hope you have found this relationship therapy article useful.