Relationship Therapy
Do you feel that trust has been broken in your relationship, maybe because of cheating or some other kind of betrayal? Do you find yourself dealing with jealousy or insecurity in your friendships or romantic relationships? Is your family life causing stress or affecting your well-being? Are you concerned that you might be in a relationship that's co-dependent or just not healthy for you? Have you ever felt like someone is trying to manipulate your reality, making you doubt your own memories or perceptions, possibly through gaslighting? Have you gone through bullying or abuse in a relationship and are finding it hard to heal from the impact? Are the challenges in your relationships making you feel overwhelmed and unsure about how to make things better?
We Can Help
Relationship issues are our specialty. We take a secular approach, and can support you with family conflicts, friendships, boundaries, infidelity, gaslighting, power struggles, LGBTQIA2+, extended family issues, codependency, non-monogamy, polyamory, bullying, abuse and more.
What is Possible?
Inner peace. Joy. A way forward.
What brings you to relationship therapy? Here are some common themes we see...
Relationship Ruptures
A relationship rupture happens when there are breaks or disruptions in trust and connection with someone you care about. This can be with anyone -- a family member, friend, spouse, colleague or otherwise. A rupture might happen because of a misunderstanding, unmet expectation, or during a moment of conflict. The rupture can leave you feeling hurt, withdrawn, unsupported, defensive, fearful, disillusioned, or off balance. We live in our own system with our own parts, ideas, values, and history of experiences. The people we have relationships with also live in their own systems in the same ways. This means that ruptures are bound to happen.
Addressing ruptures is essential for repairing and strengthening your connections. It's also important to note that ruptures can actually strengthen your bond. When you go through something together you learn about each other.
Therapy provides a safe space for you to express your feelings and experiences about what happened in the rupture. Speaking openly can help you and the other person to understand each other’s point of view so you can both begin to heal. If you don't address these breaks, they can create lasting wounds and fester into deep resentment. This is what can undermine and erode your relationship.
Repair actually builds resilience in your relationship. When you work through conflicts with intention and care you develop trust and deepen your connection. A therapist can guide you in cultivating empathy, improving communication, and rebuilding trust, transforming ruptures into opportunities for growth and understanding.
Family Feuds
Family feuds can be intense and prolonged conflicts that strain or even end relationships between family members. These disputes often stem from unresolved issues, differing values, or perceived injustices. Feuds can create emotional pain for everyone involved, and they sometimes affect multiple generations in your family.
Relationship therapy offers you a structured approach to resolving family feuds. A therapist can help you and your family to identify the root causes of the conflict and guide you to address what is really going on underneath all the upset. Through facilitated conversations you can share your thoughts and feelings openly, breaking cycles of blame and opening the door to understanding and reconciliation.
Healing family feuds can restore harmony and create healthier dynamics in your family. By working together in therapy you and your family members can establish boundaries, rebuild trust, and create patterns of interaction based on respect and empathy. Resolution can transform your family environment into a more supportive and connected space for everyone.
Holding grudges, resentment and deep hurt in your system can significantly impact your happiness and health. Working on these conflicts and resolving them can be incredibly freeing. Sometimes the resolution is to terminate a connection and that can bring some finality and freedom to move on as well.
Betrayal
Betrayal happens when someone breaks your trust. Oftentimes you didn't see it coming. This can happen when someone you care about is dishonest, disloyal, breaches an agreement with you, aligns with someone else who has hurt you, or when they do something totally out of character that shakes the way you see them. This experience can leave you feeling raw, deeply hurt, angry, or even disoriented. Betrayal can occur in any relationship -- with a partner, friend, or family member -- and the effects can last a long time.
Therapy provides you with a space to process betrayal and explore the emotions and thoughts that come with it. You can examine the impact it has on your relationship and work with a therapist to rebuild your self-esteem. Therapy also helps you to decide whether you want to work on things with the person who hurt you, and if so how to rebuild trust in that relationship.
Addressing betrayal in relationship therapy is about making space for you to heal and gain clarity. If you have decided to repair your relationship, therapy offers tools to rebuild trust and create new agreements. If not, it can help you set boundaries or make decisions about moving forward. Healing from betrayal strengthens your sense of self and helps your relationship evolve.
Attachment Styles
Your attachment style shapes how you connect and relate to others based on your early life experiences. It can be secure, anxious, avoidant, or disorganized, and it influences how you communicate, trust, and experience intimacy. Understanding your attachment style can help you to improve the relationship you are struggling with.
Your therapist can help you recognize how your attachment style impacts your interactions with this person. For example, if you have an anxious attachment style you might fear beng abandoned, but if you have an avoidant style this could make it difficult for you to experience closeness. Relationship therapy (or individual therapy) can help you to become more self-aware and empower you to change unhelpful behaviours.
Therapy gives you tools for building secure attachments, such as practicing vulnerability, developing emotional regulation, and fostering trust. By addressing your attachment style you can create stronger, more supportive connections in all areas of your life.
Gaslighting Abuse
Gaslighting abuse is a term you may be seeing or hearing a lot about. If you show up for relationship therapy together with your abuser the therapist will likely suggest individual therapy.
Gaslighting abuse is what happens when someone manipulates you into doubting yourself: the way you see something, the way you remember it, or what reality is. The intention is to throw you off balance so that you are open to suggestion from the person harming you. It’s a form of psychological abuse that can erode your self-confidence and sense of trust. Gaslighting often leaves you feeling confused, anxious, and isolated.
In therapy you will be supported to find your feet again, to feel clearer, and to reclaim your voice. Your therapist will also help you to spot the signs of gaslighting and validate the experiences you have had. This journey can support you to rebuild your confidence and establish boundaries that protect your mental health.
You can then recognize manipulation and advocate for yourself so you avoid the trap. If you are committed to repairing the relationship, therapy can help both you and the other person who harmed you to confront harmful patterns and rebuild trust through honesty and accountability.
More about Gaslighting Abuse.