Human beings are social beings which means that all humans need connection in relationships with others in order to survive. Without the formation of strong, healthy relationships in infancy, children will die or may experience failure to thrive. From childhood to adulthood, humans go through spurts of independence and connection, but ultimately, all children, teenagers and adults need the love from and connection with other human beings in order to survive physically and emotionally.
But just because we need these relationships with other people in our lives doesn’t mean that maintaining these relationships is easy. Maintaining a romantic relationship requires hard work, dedication and quite a bit of patience. Raising children–alone or with a partner–is a challenging process that doesn’t typically have a “right” answer. Getting along with friends, family and even co-workers can sometimes become difficult when disagreements arise. Without taking a step to improve these relationships in our lives, the protective relationships that are a biological necessity to survival may dwindle away. Or worse, the inclusion of these relationships in our lives without resolving the conflict may make our own individual development suffer because of the toxic environment.
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I was specifically trained to treat couples and family issues. I believe that relationships are important and essential to happiness and that avoiding problems or conflict is not helpful in the long-term for anyone.
I believe in promoting the importance of relationships during this process, and preserving the relationships that currently exist, even if there is conflict in these relationships. And most importantly, I view all relationships—family, friend, couple and community—as salvageable and worth fighting for.
Whether you are looking to improve a romantic relationship through couples therapy or marriage counseling, or improve family and friend relationships with family therapy, I can help you to try to salvage these relationships and improve everyone’s satisfaction in the relationship.