So what’s your favourite season? I love the autumn, and it’s definitely on its way! Right now, I’m looking outside my window and noticing the leaves blowing around in the light breeze. Some get blown off, and others cling to the branches of the trees. And this got me thinking about boundaries in relationships. Read more
The world has changed in a couple of weeks.
Less than a month ago, I was happy shaking hands with acquaintances. I was feeling comfortable travelling on a busy bus interacting with strangers and enjoying a conversation with the sales assistant inside the supermarket. Read more
Over the next few weeks, I’m creating a series of posts describing how controlling and unhealthy relationships with partners who are narcissistically wounded and or emotionally immature can impact your health and your relationship with your body in challenging ways.
Today I’m focusing on stress and your physical health – the mind-body connection. Read more
Have you ever wondered why your partner always seems to want to escape when you argue?
Or perhaps why you always seem to be the one trying to get them to stay in the room and make things better.
It might all be down to attachment styles. Read more
Many people assume that verbal abuse is just about swearing. And some go one step further by thinking that swearing is only abusive if it’s attached to name-calling. If they didn’t call you an #@$%ing [insert], then they haven’t been abusive. Read more
Ever found yourself giving in and putting the needs of someone else first or second-guessing yourself? Can you relate? Then you know why setting personal boundaries are so hard. Read more
What we have called anger may be abuse – David Richo
You can usually tell when someone is angry. It’s visceral. A raised voice, trembling, fidgeting, fast speech, heavy breathing, the furrowed brow, the clenched hand or maybe flared nostrils. But equally, it can be the opposite. Silence or sudden disappearance.
Often couples come to counselling naming a problem with anger in the relationship, anticipating that better communication and anger management skills would help solve the problem of endless conflict.
The problem is, however, that abuse and anger look similar. Read more
When in your relationship do you feel cared for?
Sometimes we feel embarrassed about our wish to be cared for. But Rick Hanson PhD says that wanting to be cared for is natural, and deeply rooted in evolution. Care is a symbol of love. And love, generally speaking, has been the primary driver of the development of the human brain over millions of years. Care is crucial to survival. Read more
When the need for self-confirmation becomes extreme, then you enter the domain of potentially unhealthy or pathological narcissism. Read more
It’s painful when you find yourself in a relationship continually giving more than you receive. And yet at the same time, it’s hard to stop being a people pleaser. In fact, it’s a role that you’ve become all too used to.
And really, why would you want to do that, even to the point of being unhappy, stressed, resentful, and physically and emotionally ill?
The answer: Read more