Individual Relationship Therapy

Understanding yourself. Understanding your relationships. Creating change.

Sometimes the difficulty in our lives is not simply about what is happening to us, but about what is happening between us and the people who matter to us.

You may be struggling with a particular relationship, finding the same patterns repeating themselves, or feeling that your relationships have become difficult to understand or navigate.

Individual therapy can provide a confidential space to step back, make sense of what is happening and explore how you relate to yourself and to others.

When relationships become difficult

You might be experiencing:

Repeated conflict or tension in an important relationship
Difficulty communicating or expressing what you need
Feeling misunderstood, unheard or disconnected
Difficulties with boundaries
Problems with trust or feeling safe in relationships
Anxiety about relationships or fear of rejection or abandonment
Difficulty forming or maintaining close relationships
Patterns that seem to repeat across different relationships
Difficulties with family members or friendships
Challenges following separation, divorce or the end of a relationship
Difficulties adjusting to changes in important relationships
Feeling responsible for other people's emotions
Finding it difficult to say no or establish healthy boundaries
Questions about why you respond to certain people or situations in particular ways
Feeling lonely or disconnected despite being surrounded by others

Sometimes you may know that a relationship isn't working, but not understand why.

Sometimes you may recognise a pattern but feel unsure how to change it.

And sometimes you may simply feel that you need somewhere to talk openly about what is happening.

Understanding your relationship patterns

Our relationships are shaped by many things — our experiences, expectations, emotions, beliefs and ways of communicating.

We can also develop familiar ways of responding to other people, particularly when we feel hurt, threatened, rejected or misunderstood.

These patterns can become difficult to see when we are in the middle of them.

In therapy, we can slow things down and explore what is happening beneath the surface.

We might look at:

How you relate to others
How you communicate, respond to conflict, express your needs and experience closeness or distance.
The patterns you find yourself repeating
Whether similar difficulties seem to arise in different relationships or at different points in your life.
Your boundaries and needs
Understanding what you need from relationships and how comfortable you feel communicating those needs.
Your emotional responses
Exploring what happens for you when you feel criticised, rejected, ignored, controlled, misunderstood or overwhelmed.
Your past experiences
Considering how earlier relationships and experiences may influence the way you understand yourself and relate to people now.
What you can change
Developing greater awareness of your own patterns and finding different ways of responding, communicating and relating.

You don't have to wait until a relationship breaks down

Individual relationship therapy isn't only for times when a relationship is in crisis.

You may be preparing for an important conversation, navigating a significant change, trying to establish healthier boundaries, or simply wanting to understand yourself better in relationships.

Therapy can give you the opportunity to pause and reflect before patterns become more entrenched.

It can also be particularly valuable when the other person involved in a difficult relationship isn't able or willing to attend therapy.

You can still work on your side of the relationship.

A space to understand, rather than judge

My approach is relational, collaborative and non-judgemental.

I won't tell you who is right or wrong. Instead, we can explore what is happening for you, how you experience your relationships and what may be contributing to the difficulties you are experiencing.

The aim isn't to change who you are.

It is to develop a deeper understanding of yourself and your relationships, so that you have greater choice in how you respond and relate to others.

Individual therapy may help you to

Understand yourself and your relationships more deeply
Recognise patterns that may be keeping you stuck
Develop healthier boundaries
Communicate your needs more clearly
Manage difficult emotions within relationships
Navigate conflict and difficult conversations
Build greater confidence in relationships
Understand the impact of past experiences
Develop more choice in how you respond to others
Create healthier and more fulfilling ways of relating

A confidential space to talk

You don't need to have everything worked out before you come to therapy.

You may simply know that something isn't working, that a relationship is causing you distress, or that you keep finding yourself in situations you don't understand.

Our work can begin there.

Together, we can explore what is happening, make sense of the patterns and consider what might need to change.

Take the first step

If you are experiencing difficulties in an important relationship, individual therapy can give you the space to understand what is happening and explore a different way forward.

Arrange a consultation