Our areas of expertise include both behavioral and communication interventions. Perhaps you’ve had a major setback that you’re both seeking to recover from, or maybe you just feel that your relationship is slipping away from where you want it to be, but aren’t sure why. Each relationship is unique, and requires attention and improvement in different areas. We know that learning to resolve differences without damage to our relationships is key to maintaining the support and enrichment we gain in our relationships with family and friends. The following include just a few of the areas of your relationship that relationship therapy can help improve at Choices.
Conflict Management
Learn to manage conflict in a healthy way. This is one of the biggest areas of improvement for almost any relationship. How we “fight,” says a lot about who we are as individuals. When emotions are running high, we sometimes forget about how our words affect who we’re speaking to, or how to communicate our true feelings to our partner. What we’re saying can come off as intentionally hurtful without our even realizing it. At Choices, we seek to improve your conflict management style as a couple, so that you can truly use disagreements to grow together, instead of growing apart.
Communication Exchanges
Our everyday communication is one of the foundations of a grounded relationship. There are so many different levels and ways to communicate with each other. You may believe that you know your partner(s) inside and out, but if you only ever communicate on a superficial level, you may not know him or her at all. We get down to the core of who a person is by knowing their innermost feelings. Conversations like these rarely happen overnight. In fact, some individuals never get to this level of communication because it makes them feel uncomfortable, or even worse, a sign of weakness. On the contrary, discussing emotions with your significant other will bring you closer together, and can improve all of your relationships.
Behavioral Skills
Often times, behavior can get confused with communication. We’ve all heard that it’s not just what we say, but how we say it. These are the skills we work on at Choices. Our behavior can also be our habits that we and our partners can develop over time, but neglect discussing them with each other before it’s too late. For example, say your partner(s) has a tendency to look at their phone while you’re talking. He or she might think this is harmless, “As long as I’m listening to you, what difference does it make? I’m a good multitasker!” However, lots of us feel that behaviors like this are simply our partners saying “I don’t care about what you have to say right now.” In short, it’s hurtful. At Choices, we seek to uncover these behaviors that you didn’t even realize were harming your relationship, and develop a solution to resolve them.
