The Couples Therapy Sessions have a number of AIMS, such as:
- To name and give expression to the felt problems, the gravity of the problems, and the hopes.
- To identify the kind of relationship that each of you want and long for.
- To identify specifically what you need and want from your spouse/partner in order make that happen.
- To give expression to longing, desire, hopes, fears, and all the emotions of love.
- To identify emotions like anger, frustration, entitlement, that reject or diminish the other.
- To learn how to communicate without fighting or arguing.
- To assess and diagnose the specific problems and traits that have caused difficulty.
- To assess and diagnose personality styles and how both love and control are expressed.
- To make a commitment to change and to stick together.
- To get and complete homework tasks.
The BENEFITS of the Couples Therapy sessions include:
- You can take a bird’s eye view to assess things and make informed decisions.
- You can become disentangled from the despair, anger and negative emotions.
- You can have a calm and safe place to talk about difficult things.
- You get immediate and constructive feedback from Dr. O’Connor about why things are happening and what must be done to address them
- You can learn new skills and develop new understanding of yourself and your partner.
Effects of Stress and past trauma:
Some of the issues that couples are experiencing include difficulties such as:
- You may have felt that prior to stressful events, that you were doing okay, but find that the stress placed on you has put an unexpected strain on your relationship.
- Stress may expose dormant problems that you knew were always there but you now find can no longer be avoided.
- Your partner may be an abusive and controlling personality and, under stress, may have now become overbearing leaving you living in dread and fear all the time.
- You may have previously had a dysfunctional relationship because of alcohol abuse, infidelity, or mental health issues and stress has made it impossible to hide the seriousness of such problems.
