Connections - "If you can catch it, You can change it"

Relationships: the good, the bad, the important

In therapy a lot of focus tends to be on the nature of our relationships. Do we feel connected? Do we feel lonely? Do we have our people who make us feel like we belong? We think a lot about how we connect to others but rarely think about how connected we are to ourselves.

You might not realize this, but we’re in constant dialogue with ourselves, all day, every day. The voice in our head can be mean, kind, harsh, lenient, relentless. So much of the time this voice in our head stems from how we were treated in childhood by parents, teachers, siblings, friends, etc. The patterns of our family relationships and early friendships often set the stage for how we see the world around us and how we talk to ourselves.

The ways we attached to our primary caregivers as children are important but are not set in stone for life. Our brains are amazing and are inherently designed for healing and health. We might have early childhood trauma, insecure or avoidant attachment styles in relationships, and with these things often brings anxiety, depression, mean inner thoughts, and other “yucky” symptoms.

This is where therapy can be extremely healing. In examining our history of relationships both familial and in friendships we can start to see where patterns develop. The cheesy saying I use in therapy here is “if you can catch it, you can change it”. Bringing greater awareness to our patterns of thinking, acting, feeling can bring important insight which often leads to helpful change.

Our brains and bodies are powerful, amazing, powerhouses that want us to feel good and safe. Therapy is a great way to facilitate lasting change. Interested in finding out for yourself how this works? Contact me today for a free 15 minute consultation!