Barry Carpenter
Psychotherapist/Counsellor
Counselling Supervisor
BACP Member
 

Relationships can change over the course of time as people change, whether it be feelings, wants or values. Partnerships are difficult, and this could be down to numerous factors, be it an inability to communicate feelings between one another, intimacy issues, trust issues, infidelity or romantic interests developing elsewhere or maybe the desire for them, tension between you both, a lack of sexual chemistry, anxieties which can be related to attachment issues or maybe wants and needs and values don't align between the two of you, external issues that are effecting the relationship dynamic which can trigger these things or perhaps bring new aspects into the partnership, allowing for disagreements and genuine difficulties. Or perhaps you're just not getting on as well as you used to and maybe for reasons that you're not quite aware of. Perhaps you're also both drifting apart or want different things.
 
Whatever it may be, perhaps it's time to talk it out in counselling in a non-judgemental and unbiased setting where you will both have the safe space to interact with one another, to be able to say how you feel, communicate with one another, air your feelings and differences and talk to each other about what is making you unhappy, to gain insight into the other person and explore ways of moving forward as a couple in terms of understanding each others needs, how to compromise, to build trust and build on something new together.
​
There are no guarantee's to the outcome of couples counselling. Sometimes the best outcome for both parties and the relationship is to part ways, which may be difficult and naturally sad for both parties, or perhaps maybe it will be an amicable outcome where even though the relationship didn't work out both of you will gain understanding as to why this was the case and learn from it and grow for future relationships.