Helping couples to find new ways of relating and communicating.
Do you feel disconnected from your partner? Are you constantly arguing? Do you feel like the relationship no longer meets your needs and you're longing for change? Maybe you've recently moved or you're struggling to integrate different cultural perceptions of life? Then international couples counselling might be for you.
In my experience, international relationships can experience both common and very individual issues. Due to oftentimes different experiences of the world, couples may disagree about their living situation, raising children, or about an appropriate work-life-balance. However, sometimes these superficial topics reflect personal issues and needs. How we feel and act can be connected to our cultural upbringing, but our relationship patterns are also connected to our individual experiences. Needs that were not met during our childhood might manifest in our lives as adults. If we're not aware of those needs or if we feel unable to voice them, we may feel triggered by our partners' behaviour or find it difficult to engage in satisfying communication. Especially when they're unable to process difficult emotions and anxieties, some couples become stuck in vicious cycles and begin to question their relationship and whether they are right for each other.
When appropriately addressed, challenging periods and conflict can help us gain important insights and develop further – not only as a couple, but also as individuals. In this regard, couples counselling often proves to be beneficial for both partners individually. Especially in international relationships we can learn a lot from each others perspectives and experiences and broaden our own way of thinking about the world. In my perception, one of the keys is to create a loving space in which both partners can be different. With that said, some couples decide to start counselling because they want to find new ways of relating and communicating, while others want to open or change their relationship system and look for support in a reflective and non-judgemental space. In all cases we can talk about what is needed in order to co-create a helpful process.
If you’d like to schedule a free video call (20 min) or an initial appointment for couples counseling, please contact me via email on contact@creatinglinks.de or on the It’s Complicated therapy platform.
