Relationship Issues

The DSM limits mental disorders to "a clinically significant behavioral or psychological syndrome or pattern that occurs in an individual." As a result, problems that occur between or among individuals are not really defined by the DSM, but of course they exist and require treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be highly effective with a variety of relationship issues.

Therapy and couples

Couples therapy is a process of mediation and mind education for conflicted couples that want more from their relationships and have exhausted, over time, their ability to find solutions on their own. It identifies hidden sources of conflict in each individual and identifies how they poison the dialogue. It teaches them new techniques and perspectives about how to listen and communicate more effectively. It offers new and more effective relationship models and rehearses the changes. It negotiates specific compromises and new ways of pleasing and interacting for each couple. It fine tunes the process until successful completion.

Therapy and families

CBT can help families that are torn apart by conflict. CBT sets collaborative goals that all family members can agree on and helps family members empathize with each other through role playing. Listening and validating feelings without judging are learned skills that contribute to family harmony. Although CBT for family therapy is relatively new, it has shown concrete results across a wide range of issues. CBT is distinguished from traditional therapies by being brief, results-oriented and solution-focused. We help families work together so that all members get their needs met and the family environment is more calm, productive, and pleasant.

Coping with mental illness

The roller-coaster of living with someone with mental illness can threaten family stability. Parents and siblings need to learn coping mechanisms and how to draw good boundaries. Mental illness can turn the person you love into a frightening stranger, especially if your loved one refuses to take medication. There are strategies that can help you avoid burnout and to effectively manage crisis situations. Skills such as nonjudgmental listening may allow you to rebuild emotional bonds with the ill individual and can help you guide him to desired behaviors, such as compliance with psychiatrist appointments and medication.

Types of relationship issues

Partner relationship issues

Partner relationship issues can be communication problems, sexual problems, financial problems, or a combination of many issues. Often, what appears to be one problem is actually masquerading as a deeper one. In domestic abuse, there is a high risk for violence; the victimized partner must be supported in efforts to step outside the abusive situation and start a new life.

Parent-child issues

Parenting problems can arise when parents are unsure how to handle the child who display resistance to authority, frequent tantrums, unmanageable sibling rivalry, or other issues. Sometimes, these issues are related to a disorder such as ADHD. Parent-child relationship issues can be manifest by a child's lack of respect for the parent or behavioral problems such as acting out, stealing, and running away.

Family issues

Every family is an ecosystem. The balance can become upset when one member becomes chronically ill, there is a job loss or financial insecurity, there is extreme sibling rivalry, or there is friction with in-laws or extended family.

Child abuse issues

While we do not treat sexual abuse (this requires a specialist), we treat victims of childhood trauma and neglect. This includes children adopted from war- or poverty-ravaged areas who display signs of abuse, although their history is unknown.