No matter how in love you are with your partner, there may come a time in your relationship where you no longer feel the instinctive urge to ignore their quirks, their eccentricities or their difference of opinion in the name of said love. When that time comes, rather than letting things build up and corrode your relationship to the point of no return, give yourselves the time to work these issues out through couples counseling. Doing so is only fair to the both of you. After all, you wouldn’t break up with your family over minor conflicts. Why not give the same chance to someone who you promised to spend your life with? Make sure to be vigilant about a few warning symptoms of a relationship that is in need of help, find solutions to your relationship woes through couples therapy before it is too late.
Relationship Warning Signs
- You start disagreeing on minute issues.
Having a disagreement or two on which TV show you should binge watch together is one thing, and having repeated arguments over who should do the dishes or whose turn it is to take the trash out is another. When couples start bickering over things as little as these, it is usually a sign of underlying conflict that is not being brought to the surface. Instead, it gets expressed in unrelated arguments which only go on to pollute your otherwise serene home. These issues could be addressed through couples counseling.
- You can’t tolerate things you once found to be charming.
Everyone has their quirks, don’t they? Your partner might like to get their coffee a certain way, they may like the thermostat set to a specific temperature due to being too warm or too cold otherwise, or they may simply be scared of clowns. These things, which can be described in a generalized way as quirks, or in a technical sense as compulsive behavior or even phobias in the case of fear of clowns, are a part of your partner’s personality. If you are at a point where they have started to annoy you, then it would be a sign that there is an underlying cause of said irritation. And couples therapy could help you discuss them.
- 3. Children take a back seat in terms of priorities.
Those couples who decide on having a family have that additional bond of their kids keeping them together. Taking care of the children’s needs, their wants, and their everyday activities is second nature for such a couple. Whenever you start feeling that your children are being neglected by your partner, whether it is because of them not picking them up from school as frequently or not going to their practice games, feeling that nagging sense of worry might cause you to lash out at your partner. Instead of doing so, make sure to express your concerns in a safe environment under couples counseling, so your partner doesn’t feel like they are being attacked as being a bad parent while you also get to work out these issues.
- Work seems to take more and more time as of late.
Another common problem between couples that could blow up in their faces is when one or both parties start spending more time apart than together, with work being the topmost reason. Couples who are having issues often find this as a good coping mechanism to avoid conflicts, but that only adds to the list of underlying problems that they are not discussing with their partners. If you feel that this behavior is being practiced by either you or your partner, then make sure to discuss this through couples counseling rather than nurturing the underlying issue and having it stem into something that would be difficult to address later.
- Intimacy issues have started to surface.
It is not uncommon to see couples who are going through a rough patch without even acknowledging it. But in most cases, the acknowledgment is hiding under plain sight – we just don’t want to see it. It could be displayed in the way your partner behaves around you when you are alone, having sex in less frequency as compared to before, or not doing certain intimate actions for each other anymore. When your issues and conflicts start making their way into the bedroom, then that silent acknowledgment is one of the biggest signs that you need to get your ducks in a row and talk out the hidden issues under couples therapy.
- Taunts and jabs abound.
This is a form of passive-aggressive behavior that is widely noticed in all sorts of relationships and is not constricted to romantic pairings. Whenever partners who don’t like direct conflict resort to this behavior, it can turn real ugly real fast. An indirect jab may hurt more than a direct accusation at times, and when it is your partner who’s doing the talking, then a simple taunt could have an abundance of meaning behind it. If you are going through these issues, then ensure to address them in a non- hostile environment through couples counseling before these taunts and jabs turn into shouting matches.
How Therapy Can Help
Whether you are in the early stages of conflict where things haven’t turned ugly, or if you have gone past the point of maintaining decency around your partner for one reason or another, if you think that giving the relationship another shot rather than throwing all that time away is worth it, then do not hesitate from doing so. At the end of the day, it depends on the main reason of the conflict and whether or not you find it in yourself to give the relationship another go. But if you do choose couples therapy as a solution, then it can do wonders in terms of mending that bond between you and your partner, no matter how close to getting severed it might seem.
Couples Therapy with Ben Wolf
If you are a resident of Minnesota and believe that couples therapy could help you, then enlisting the services of a renowned specialist for relationship counseling – St. Paul, Minnesota, would be a viable decision. And as an experienced and licensed therapist, Ben Wolf would be able to help. Having years of experience in helping couples work out their issues including but not limited to conflict, communication, power and intimacy problems; Mr. Wolf holds an array of qualifications that would prove to be immensely beneficial for you and your partner as you work out your issues in a controlled, safe and healthy environment. If you are looking for relationship counseling in St. Paul, Minnesota, then do not hesitate from calling Ben Wolf today.
