Have you felt “stuck” in a never-ending cycle of hurt in your relationship? You are looking for peace and comfort, but it seems it is escaping you. You might be familiar with this phrase just before an argument. “ here it goes again…” The routine is the same, the familiar argument, the tiptoeing around each other, the tense feeling, the wait before the explosion, it may even start with something small, but then it quickly becomes heated. Angry, hurtful words are thrown at each other …. And then isolation might follow, period of silence, anger, and disconnect.
You might be left feeling unheard, unsupported, and even alone. You may ask yourself: “what happened to us? How did we get here? Were we like this from the start? What change” Even if we don’t express it, we might feel insecure, unhappy, unloved, and lonely.. it seems we are stuck in this never-ending hurtful emotional pattern…
If it is how you feel, you are not alone. Miscommunication and misunderstanding lead to “hurt.” The “hurt emotion” could feel greater when it comes from “our other half,” the one who is “supposed to love and support us,” our “soul mate.”
There are different reasons leading to such discord and disconnect. In couple’s therapy, the therapist sets out to create a safe space where each side can be heard and understood without being judged or frowned upon. The therapist may work as a facilitator who helps with creating the bridge to effective communication and peace. In a safe and non-judgmental space, feelings are heard, and patterns of relationship are identified and explored. Each person’s expectation is identified and shared. The hope is to move from isolation to connection, from heated arguments to resolution, from loneliness to being loved, from sadness to happiness, and ultimately from insecurity to intimacy.
Our clinicians have experience working with couples from different cultural backgrounds, ethnicity, gender identity and age. These couples have all had one thing in common. They wanted to move from disconnect to intimacy. Our Clinicians have been interested in working with couples from different cultures such as Middle Eastern/ South Asian and Asian, and African American cultures. Being familiar with these collectivistic cultures, We have a deeper understanding of possible cultural clashes in regard to couple’s relationships and expectations in different cultures.
If you are looking for a connection and understanding in your relationship, We can help you. Feel free to reach out. Let us help you in your journey with your partner.
Family has different definition for everyone, but it is safe to say that in the simplest form, family could provide the sense of belonging with people, being cared for. It could represent presents the foundation of self, and a unity of acceptance, unconditional love, joy and support. Family comes in different shape and form.
Sometimes, family system goes through rough patches. The issue could stem from misunderstanding, miscommunication between family members. As small conflict between members could drag in other members leading to discord within the system. The difficulties could be related to sibling conflict, different parenting style, generational conflict between parents and children, different conflict between cultural upbringing within the same family between the parent from another culture and the American born/ raised children. Some times a loss in the family, presence of substance use, divorce, and many other situations could unbalance the family system leading to conflict. One of the most common situation is conflict between parents and children, where It seems the more parents try to related to their teenager, the less they make headways. As a parent have you thought: “ I want good things for my child, I want him/her to feel confident, make good choice, listen and be successful in future, I want to connect with them. But is seems no matter how hard I try, my teenager doesn’t understand me, we don’t connect”. we have heard this over and over again… it seems it is an unending battle which could result in “hurt”. Normally parents become frustrated and give up and children distance themselves even more from the parents.
In these situations miscommunication and misunderstanding could lead to father conflict. In family therapy, the therapist creates a safe and non judgmental space for every one to talk. The therapist helps open up a line of dialogue and communication between family member, where each member gets a chance to “share thoughts and feelings”, be heard and understood. When each member to is given a chance to voice their though and discover the ability to communicate better by lean interpersonal effectiveness, conflictive situations decrease. In family therapy The goal is to improve relationships along with improving methods of communication and conflict resolution. Families are a unique interconnected systems where an issue with one member would affect the whole family as the unit.Our clinicians have worked with families with different shape and forms, from different walks of life. Our clinicians enjoyed working with blended families and also families from Middle eastern and south Asian cultures with different religious belief. One of the areas of my great interest and experience have been working with families where their cultural and religious belief have present conflict in accepting / providing support for the family member who has identified as LGBT.
We love helping families feel connected and empowered again. Let’s figure out the next step towards healing for within your family.