Therapy for Relationship Issues
Welcome to book a conversation where we talk through what you want help with. I am a licensed psychologist and meet with clients for talk therapy. I offer in-depth conversations (individual therapy) where you gain more understanding of yourself, perspective and change. You can get help with relationship problems and other challenges. We book conversations at the practice in Östermalm in Stockholm or online.
What are Relationship Issues?
What clients seek help for in their relationships varies, but they wish for their relationships to be better than they currently perceive them. It may concern current relationships and also past ones. Some are looking for a partner, others have troubles in their current partnership. Others wish to develop their relationship with parents or their adult children.
Some wish to look back and talk about relationships that have impacted them too much in a negative direction, and they feel that something is holding them back. Some have experiences of vulnerability and bullying and feel anxious in groups.
Some have been searching for friends for a long time. Others seek to develop in their professional roles and have discovered that they are not advancing.
How are Relationship Issues Treated?
In the therapy sessions, you and I will identify the challenges you experience in relationships. We will see what triggers the problems and find alternatives that provide trust, stability, and change in your relationships.
A well-known framework for understanding relationships is attachment theory. Many who seek therapy have a pattern of withdrawing with what they desire and need. They may also tend to overadapt to others, being overly compliant. Others seek closeness with friends and partners but can be too intense and feel secure by taking initiatives and making decisions.
Effects of Relationship Issues
Experiences of relationships during upbringing can impact how one perceives oneself and others in relationships as an adult. Parents might have neglected their child in various ways. Other children may have bullied a classmate. In adulthood, there is uncertainty in relationships, which can manifest in different ways.
In adulthood, relationships can also negatively affect. Some have or have had a partner who treats them carelessly, for example, through neglect, accusations, or manipulation. Others tell about experiences from work and challenges with competition, bullying, and manipulation. Trauma or trauma-like events affect.
Sometimes, anxiety, depression, and other problem areas are significant in how one reacts and acts in relationships.
Transformations through Therapy
In therapy, we will identify the patterns you have in relationships and how you wish to change them. We will also explore reactions to different dynamics in relationships.
Patterns can vary in different types of relationships such as with friends and acquaintances, strangers, partners, and at work. Patterns may also differ among individuals of different ages, genders, and positions (groups, leaders). Sometimes, it can be difficult to understand how differently one acts and reacts.
Therapy becomes a way to open up and start living more fully in relationships:
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to feel joy and meaning
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to have energy and desire
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to be more present
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to be able to choose when to seek closeness and when to maintain distance
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to be creative and cooperative
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to feel satisfied with who you are
Affect-Focused Therapy and Relationships
We will explore the significance of emotions in your relationships. What we feel inside can affect how close or how distant one is to other people.
Sometimes, worry thoughts and self-critical thoughts affect more, and other times there may be sensitivity to feeling warm emotions towards others. Being irritable and angry with others can also create problems and push them away. Other times, one may swallow irritation and be overly compliant. We will see how approaching and distancing from others and even one's own emotions occurs.
You will understand yourself better and gain perspectives to correct past experiences. You will also feel more agency and emotional presence in your relationships and more flexibility (for yourself) in interactions with others. Learn more about therapy at Psychological Forum and Maria Sandgren.
Example - Relationships
Some have a tendency to overadapt to how others wish them to be. Others have problems with closeness even though they want to be in a stable relationship with others.
Others have a need for closeness, a kind of intimacy, which provides security but can cause problems in more superficial relationships. Others have challenges with closeness and distance. Some need to dominate the relationship and can have a controlling approach to partners and surroundings.
Patterns of criticizing each other by saying: "if you just could..." are sometimes present. Sometimes the problem may be another person's issues with alcohol, aggressiveness, or silence, but there are also relationships where both overlook the underlying problem and engage in openly criticizing each other. The partner usually responds by criticizing back. In such a relationship, it might happen that one person thinks s/he is "right" in his/her criticism while the other person has a history of subordinating themselves and being critical of themselves.
In discussions and arguments, it often revolves around underlying needs for care, to be listened to, to be able to influence the other, or similar. People may also have different needs for change but are afraid to talk about it.
Relationship Issues - Contact Psychologist for Guidance
Maria Sandgren, licensed psychologist with extensive experience, offers therapy at a private practice in central Stockholm as well as via online.
I will help you find the arrangement that best meets your needs, regardless of whether you prefer digital meetings or visits at the practice.