RELATIONAL CONFLICT

Better Life Therapy offers compassionate outpatient treatment for individuals with relational conflict

ADDRESSING RELATIONAL CONFLICT

How do I repair this relationship?

Why don’t I have close relationships?

Why does my family treat me this way?

Why do I have trouble connecting with others?

Is this conflict my fault?

Should I stay with my partner?

If you find yourself asking these questions, it may be time to seek counseling services. All people can relate to finding themselves in opposition with another person. Sometimes this opposition goes beyond what we know how to navigate on our own or surpasses what feels like healthy conflict. When our relationships with others are struggling it can cause us to have doubts, confusion, and emotional suffering. At Better Life Therapy we can help you navigate relational conflict and feel supported. Our therapists use a variety of interventions to best fit your personal situation and experiences. Some theories that they are trained to use and aid clients with are Dialectical Behavior Theory (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Theory (CBT), and Psychodynamic Theory. More about these approaches can be found below. Clients can learn how to set and respect boundaries within any of their relationships in order to help their relationships flourish. Resolving relational conflict also involves addressing power dynamics and accepting that the only control any person has is over their own self and that we do not have power to control others.

ADDRESSING RELATIONAL CONFLICT

Depression or Major Depressive Disorder is a common and serious medical illness that affects how you feel, the way you think, and how you act, usually with negative thoughts and emotions. Depression often causes feelings of sadness, a loss of interest in the activities and hobbies you loved before, and a general feeling of fatigue. If left untreated, it has the potential to cause emotional and physical problems which can decrease your ability to function in work and in life.

To be diagnosed with depression, an individual must have five depression symptoms every day, nearly all day, for at least 2 weeks. One of the symptoms must be a depressed mood or a loss of interest or pleasure in almost all activities. Children and adolescents may be irritable rather than sad.

PARTNER CONFLICT

Partner conflict can relate to individuals who are in courtships, relationships, married, or even divorced. Partners can be in conflict about how they are defining their relationship and the boundaries of it. It can even be about how they are relating and acting toward one another. Not everyone shows and receives love in the same ways and this can be challenging to learn about one another if communication, understanding and effort aren’t going all directions. Partners can also experience conflicts over differing opinions and values and how to move forward from these.

CONFLICT BETWEEN PARENTS AND CHILDREN

Whether you are a parent or not, everyone has been someone’s child even if they’ve never known their parents. These conflicts can cause emotional distress even when parents and children are not in contact with one another. Frustrations can be felt in both directions over expectations of the others role and how to interact with one another. Parents may want to be more involved in their children’s day to day or may want more time for themselves without their children. Children may feel like their parents do not treat them as they treat their siblings or that their parents have done or haven’t done something for or to them that is unforgivable. There are many reasons why parents and children may not see eye to eye or feel understood and respected by one another but the stress from these conflicts can be resolved if one or both parties decides to work through the conflict in order to move forward.

FRIEND CONFLICT

Conflict between friends is bound to happen at some point in most friendships. Differing opinions, miscommunications, misunderstandings, and even out right disrespect can all be sources of conflict between friends. Friends may even feel conflict because of changing friendship dynamics or feeling left out by a pair or group of friends. Learning how to navigate friendships with healthy boundaries and even when and how to end friendships that are no longer serving our clients are common issues that our therapists are ready to help with.

INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE

Interpersonal violence can be referred to in many ways, such as intimate partner violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, rape, or other physical abuse. This is any kind of conflict that reaches a point of physical harm between individuals. We do not recommend joint or couples counseling for individuals who have experienced interpersonal violence between each other. Interpersonal violence can happen between people that previously did or did not know each other and survivors can experience negative symptoms for years after the incidence. Incidences of violence can be isolated or on going for extended periods of time. Healing from interpersonal violence can look different for each individual but at Better Life Therapy we work alongside clients to support them as they navigate their healing journey.

SIBLINGS CONFLICT

Sibling conflict can relate to parents but can also arise between siblings despite parent actions. Siblings are known for having rivalries and for frustration relating to their similarities and differences. These conflicts can arise or reoccur throughout the lifespan. Age differences, parenting differences, and opinions on how each other should relate to parents can all be reasons for conflict. Additionally, half and step siblings may have additional reasons for conflict relating to how the families have blended.

FAMILY CONFLICT

Family systems are more diverse than ever in today’s age. Whether your family is large or small, blended or atomic, just starting out, or multigenerational, you may go through seasons of hardship as it grows and evolves. Some common familial difficulties are sharing space, rearing children, sibling feuds, and disagreements on everyday things.

APPROACHES WE USE

DIALECTICAL BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (DBT)

Focuses on building therapeutic skills in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Derived from CBT and used to aid clients in behavior change.

ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY (ACT)

A psychotherapy approach where individuals learn to accept their underlying feelings as appropriate responses to how they are experiencing their world and commit to making behavioral changes that will change how they are experiencing their world and thus change their feelings.

COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT)

Applies diverse thought and behavioral techniques with the goal of promoting behavior change and reducing symptoms. This modality is time sensitive, structured, educational and present oriented. CBT is known for assigning homework or between session activities.