Relationships can have a powerful impact on how we feel about ourselves and how we move through the world. Sometimes we find ourselves repeating the same patterns, struggling to set boundaries, avoiding conflict, or feeling responsible for everyone else's feelings.
Relational therapy looks at how our relationships and past experiences shape the way we connect with others. Together, we can explore patterns that may be getting in the way of the relationships you want and work toward new ways of communicating, setting boundaries, and feeling more secure in your relationships.
How Relational Therapy Can Help
Relational therapy can be helpful if you:
Keep finding yourself in similar relationship patterns
Struggle with boundaries or saying no
Put other people's needs ahead of your own
Feel anxious or uncertain in close relationships
Avoid conflict or have difficulty expressing what you need
Feel disconnected or misunderstood
Are navigating dating, marriage, divorce, or another relationship change
Notice that past relationships affect how you respond to people today
Understanding why a pattern developed can be important, but insight alone doesn't always change it. Therapy also gives us a chance to notice these patterns as they're happening and practice responding differently.
What Relational Therapy Looks Like
Relational therapy isn't just about romantic relationships. We may talk about relationships with partners, family members, friends, coworkers, or other important people in your life.
We'll pay attention to patterns that come up across those relationships—how you communicate, what happens when there's conflict, what you expect from other people, and what you tend to do when you feel hurt, anxious, or disconnected.
The relationship between therapist and client is also an important part of relational therapy. It can give us another way to understand how you experience connection, trust, boundaries, and communication.
Using More Than One Approach
I don't expect one type of therapy to address everything. Depending on what comes up in our work, I may also incorporate CBT, EMDR, or DBT skills.
For example, we might use relational therapy to understand a recurring relationship pattern, CBT to work with the thoughts that reinforce it, or EMDR when past experiences continue to have a strong emotional impact.
Interested in Relational Therapy?
I offer relational therapy in Denver as part of my work with individual adults. If you're not sure whether this approach fits what you're looking for, we can talk about that during a free 20-minute phone consultation.