Embracing yourself as "good enough"
How often do you wonder if you are good enough? Good enough as an employee, parent, child, friend, or spouse? When you look around, perhaps you evaluate yourself against those around you and simply wonder if you are falling short somewhere. Are your kids as happy as the neighbor’s children? Do you spend enough time…
Read MoreAn Affair Is Not the Beginning of the End
Couples too often split soon after infidelity, before considering alternatives or attempting to repair the relationship. (Continue reading … )
Read MoreConnecting with your partner in all moments
As a couples therapist, I fairly regularly talk to romantic partners about the different ways they feel distant from one another. Sometimes it is sexually, other times it is about a mismatch in coparenting styles, but mostly couples simply say they do not feel “intimate” anymore. For almost all couples, there was at some point…
Read MoreForgiveness – is it really worth it?
Most everyone has been hurt by others at some point in their lives; hurt or abuse can be physical, verbal, emotional, or sexual. Very few, if any of us, are exempt from a variety of situations that cause us pain. Some people have managed to move on from these situations; even major transgressions like physical…
Read MoreBefore forgiving – the effect of anger and resentment on the body
We’ve all heard how beneficial it is to forgive those who have done us wrong, and we have been told time and again that we can’t really move on unless we have forgiven them. However, we all know that forgiving someone is easier said than done. Resentment is something that we find easy to hold…
Read More7 myths about grief
Loss can turn your world upside down in an instant. When someone you love dies, daily routines can feel unfamiliar, and emotions can come in waves that catch you off guard. Myths about grief often add another layer of pain by suggesting there is a “right” way to mourn. At Symmetry Counseling, we often meet…
Read MoreWhat are reasonable expectations for relationships?
Expectations are attitudes and behaviors that we expect from other people. We are taught – explicitly and implicitly – that there are standards of behaviors, what we call the norms, when it comes to how we should treat each other. We see it being modeled in our family, and we also see it in school,…
Read More7 strategies to help you get over a broken heart
If you’ve ever had your heart broken, you know how painful it can be. There are times when the pain is so bad it becomes physical. Memories of happy times pop up uninvited anytime during the day, making you feel really sad and alone. One day you might feel okay, but the next, you could…
Read MoreWhen to forgive
You’ve been hurt badly – by a spouse, a family member, a friend. What they did left a lasting effect on you. Sometimes you don’t know how you have survived the hurt and the pain; there are even times where you’re not sure that you have survived it. You talk about what happened to your…
Read MoreHow can you tell if your partner is depressed?
Maybe you’ve noticed something different in your partner. He or she may be acting sadder than usual, may not be taking pleasure in the things that he or she usually enjoys, or may even be talking about death a lot. It could be your partner just down in the dumps, or these symptoms could be…
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