Individual Therapy for Relationship Issues in Los Angeles, CA
Relationships are hard. Even when they are great and with the right person. You’re trying to make different brains, learning styles, experiences, communication skills, and preferences come together in a productive, positive way. It’s a lot!
Or maybe you either are trying to get out of a relationship, or have just experienced a breakup, and are looking to do things differently next time, feeling determined to have healthier, happier relationships.
Individual relationship therapy can help you in your current or future romantic relationship(s), relationships with family, friends, or coworkers, and as you navigate the end of a relationship due to a breakup, divorce, estrangement, or parting ways.
Individual Therapy for Divorce
Under the best circumstances, divorce can be a liberating new start and sad closing of a door that you must grieve. It can also be contentious and traumatizing. Moving toward the decision to divorce is long, complex, and can be lonely. All of it is hard. No matter where you are in the process, an individual relationship therapist can help you decide if, when, and how to let go by helping you think through potential pitfalls, your needs (emotional, physical, financial, etc.), and what actions align with your highest values such that you can walk away proud of how you handled things and without having regret or doubt. Don’t go it alone, when you can have compassionate, helpful support.
Therapy For Dating
Most women do not enjoy modern dating, and would instead describe it as a time-consuming hellscape that takes energy away from other areas of life with a solid return on investment (friends and hobbies for instance). That being said, it is a necessary evil if you want to find a romantic relationship. It can be especially hard if you have been burned or traumatized in the past, and/or, if you are dating as a person who is marginalized in some way, such as in plus size dating (dating while fat) or if you have a visible disability. An individual relationship therapist can help you learn how to build intimacy in a healthy way, screen the right partners IN and the wrong partners OUT, reframe what feels like a liability into an incredibly helpful tool, differentiate red flags from green flags, and figure out what on earth to do with a yellow flag. With the right support and therapy-developed strategy, dating doesn’t have to be so painful and can help you find your person(s)!
Therapy After a Breakup
Breakups are brutal, whether you are the one leaving or being left. You might have a broken heart and be in excruciating pain, be too exhausted and burned to think about doing it again, stuck in an on-again-off-again pattern, or might feel energetic with relief, but want to avoid rushing into the next relationship. Either way, there is loss to be grieved, self-compassion to be had, and lessons to be learned,
Regardless, therapy can help you figure out what worked well in your relationship (and how to replicate that) and what did not, so that you can do things differently next time. Whether that’s higher standards from the start, better boundaries, speaking up about your needs more, or not putting all your eggs in one basket, therapy can help you grieve and learn so that you can move foward.
Individual Relationship Therapy After Trauma
The other thing that can hurt relationships is trauma. When you have been harmed by someone, especially within a relationship (and especially by a parent or a partner), it makes trust and vulnerability very difficult. Standing up for yourself and setting boundaries or sharing your feelings can feel paralyzing. Or you might cut people off at the first sign of a problem, feeling afraid to give things a chance for repair. Or ghost them after resentment has boiled over.
Relationships are scary when you have been hurt in them. And yet, we are driven toward the very human need to connect. This push-pull dynamic can cause you to desperately seek out connection while also pushing it away. Managing intense emotions can also be difficult, and a productive conversation never happens when you’re too upset to think straight. Not to mention, sexual intimacy can be challenging after experiencing trauma, and struggling in this area can be hard for romantic relationships.
Other Types of Individual Relationship Therapy
Individual relationship therapy can help with many other relationship challenges, such as:
Adjusting to bringing a baby home (especially your first one!).
Addressing a mix-match in sexual desire and/or how problems in the relationship affect sexual intimacy.
Improving communication in an already great relationship because you are each totally different people from totally different families, cultures, and/or trauma histories.
Exploring major questions around the relationship, such as is this the right person? Am I settling? Am I queer? What is most important to me in a relationship? Why do I feel so insecure in my relationship? Am I an adequate partner? How do I feel about opening the relationship?
Overcoming the ways in which past trauma sabotages the current relationship.
Getting support as you navigate stressors like trying to infertility, pregnancy, or grief.
Working through conflict or breakups in friendship
Improving or cutting off difficult family relationships
Support in managing (ha!) a horrible boss or coworker
Improving relationship skills
Individual Relationship Therapy Can Help You…
Identify unhelpful relationship patterns and replace them with ones that serve your goals
Align your actions in relationships with your values
Learn how to screen the right people in and the wrong people out
Learn how to voice your needs and ensure they are met
Set boundaries, say no, and ask for what you want
Learn how to have conflict that feels productive and respectful
Be more authentic
Support people in your life without it being at your own expense
Build feelings of safety and trust
Improve communication skills, especially about vulnerable topics
Learn how to build or rebuild true emotional and physical intimacy that is satisfying and healthy
Let go of past trauma that you carry into your current relationship
Clarify what you want and need in a relationship and assess how aligned a relationship is with this
Exit toxic relationships safely, with effective coping, in a way that feels true to your values
How does your childhood affect your relationships?
Consider what was modeled to you:
How did the adults in your home communicate? Was it kind and direct?
Did you see them balance prioritizing their own needs and that of their partner or family member?
Were they managing conflict in a healthy way? Did each person (including you) feel heard and respected?
Did you see them express affection and appreciation?
Did they manage their own feelings so that you didn’t feel responsible for them?
If so, you were lucky! Or…
Did you see the adults stuffing their feelings and then exploding or leaving?
How about insults, passive aggressive guilt trips, the silent treatment, or avoiding conflict at all costs?
Did you see a lack of balance where one person always got their way or one person’s needs were never met?
Were things just not discussed in the home? Was affection (verbal or physical) absent?
Did you see boundaries get violated or never even get set in the first place?
Were you left feeling as thought your feelings and needs didn’t matter or were wrong?
If this is closer to what you saw, then how on earth would you have learned the skills you needed to have healthy, satisfying relationships?
Individual Therapy for Relationship Issues can help you repair your relationships
Individual Therapy for Relationship Issues can help you address the issues you’re facing in your relationships and uncover other parts that can benefit from healing. Whether you are looking to create stronger boundaries, better deal with conflict, be more open and authentic in your relationships, or something else, individual therapy for relationship issues can help. As a relationship issues therapist, I work with and am affirming of people in diverse relationships including interracial, interfaith, same-sex, gender non-conforming, and polyamorous/consensually non-monogamous relationships. I also work with clients hoping to improve non-romantic relationships such as family, work, or friend relationships.
I help clients at Well Woman Psychology improve their ability to effectively manage relationships in a way that feels healthy and satisfying, where each person feels appreciated, respected, and supported. This includes romantic relationships, family relationships, work relationships, and friendships. If you feel stuck in the same unhealthy relationship patterns, I can help you unlearn what your family or trauma taught you that isn’t helpful. I can also help you learn new skills to assist you in developing healthy patterns. Even the most loving relationships struggle, but with support and willingness, anyone can learn these helpful new skills and apply them in their lives. And the good news is, even if the other person refuses to go to therapy with you, the relationship can still improve just by you going.
Are You Ready to Start Individual Therapy for Relationship Issues in Los Angeles, CA?
While relationships are hard they can be a little easier with the support of a relationship issues therapist. At Well Woman Psychology in Manhattan Beach, CA I will give you skills that you can implement within your loving relationships. In order to get started follow these simple steps.
Reach out for a free consultation with a Well Woman Psychology.
Make your first appointment with a relationship issues therapist.
Watch as your relationships thrive!
Other Services I Offer in California & Virginia
At my Los Angeles, CA-based therapy practice I am dedicated to supporting women and their unique mental health journey. Through online therapy, I provide support to anyone in California, Colorado, Illinois, New York, and Washington. The mental health services I provide include body image therapy, sex therapy, EMDR, trauma therapy, and PTSD treatment in addition to counseling for grief, infertility, miscarriage, pregnancy, postpartum, and new moms. I look forward to connecting with you and helping your happiest life. Reach out today to start working with an online psychologist in California.