Are You Seen and Heard? Everyone wants to be loved. To feel significant. To be seen. When those needs aren’t met, we end up in power struggles without even realizing it. We feel cut off and don’t have the intimacy we used to have. We can’t come to a happy concensus, because we don’t know what we want. Even if we do, we don’t know how to get it in a healthy, honest way.
Are You Seen and Heard?
There are no college classes on relationships. No one teaches us conflict resolution. When problems come up, we feel angry, disappointed, and overwhelmed. Of course we wind up frustrated and resentful. Disappointed, we keep rehashing the same problem with no relief. We end up stuck in a loop. Crushed that someone who used to be so important to us no longer feels that way, we wall ourselves off. We try to make sure we can never get hurt again. That emotional disconnect grows worse and worse, and the pattern starts all over again.
Are You Seen and Heard?
How many of these statements describe your disappointment with your relationship?
- Conflict resolution is hard for me. I don’t know how to talk to people.
- I have thought, heard, or said, “I love you, but I’m not in love with you anymore.”
- I feel cut off from my partner. I even feel disdain for my partner, and it affects the intimacy in our relationship.
- I feel angry, frustrated, disappointed, overwhelmed, and resentful.
- I’m frustrated with the state of our relationship, and I’m deciding whether to stay or go.
- I’m upset about not being heard. My partner doesn’t listen, and we no longer come to a happy consensus when we disagree.
- My partner and I fight a lot. This creates immature or acting-out behavior.
- I keep going over the same problem without my relief. I’m stuck in a loop, and I don’t know how to break it.
- My perspectives are never validated or understood. I don’t feel I can speak up and share my opinion.
- I have an idealized version of what a relationship should look like, and when it doesn’t meet that vision, I’m disappointed and upset.
- I’m sad because my needs aren’t being met.
- The person who was once the most important person in my world doesn’t act like we still share the bond. I don’t feel important anymore. There’s an emotional disconnect.
There are common problems in relationships, and they can feel insurmountable. But they’re not. The pattern can be broken.
It’s time to get back to yourself, to remember who you are–who your intuition, insight, and choices want you to be. It’s time to get back to me. When you know yourself, your me, you know what you want–and how to get it. My book “Happy Me Happy We: Six Steps To Know Yourself So You Know What You Want In A Relationship” shows you just how to do that.
Please contact me for more information at (858) 735-1139 or go to my website CouplesCounselorSanDiego.com
