Manchester Psychotherapy

Counselling in Manchester

Marriage Counselling – Is It Easy?

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marriage counselling in manchesterWhen couples come to me for couples counselling they are often surprised at the relatively small amount of time we spend looking at what has gone wrong in the relationship. Sure, I will ask each partner why they have come to couples counselling and what they hope to get out of it, but unless there is an urgent need, I will not dissect and invest time in the negative aspects of their history together.

I use Imago Relationship Therapy when working with couples. Imago theory does not believe that people do stuff in their relationships just to piss their partner off! We do things for a reason. We are trying to get our needs met. We often go about doing this in completely the wrong way because we are human and we are fallible.

Part of the therapeutic process undoubtedly involves dialoging about how we have been hurt by our partner. In Imago this is done safely and calmly. Couples dialogue is used throughout all processes in Imago Relationship Therapy. This involves checking out that your partner is OK to listen to what you have to say, and then having what you say mirrored, validated and empathised with by your partner. It sounds easy and yet it can be difficult to learn and is powerful when mastered. It is also the subject of a whole separate blog post. 90% of my marriage counselling sessions are spent with the couple dialoging with each other. The focus is on ownership of feelings and connection with your partner. Yelling at each other achieves nothing and just reinforces negative patterns of behaviour so is discouraged – you probably have been doing that at home and look where it has got you.

Much time in Imago is spent learning how to do things differently. Imago teaches us to break out of the old habits and put new, more useful ones in their place. These new habits allow the relationship to grow, accentuate the positive, remove the blame and replace it with honesty and intimacy.

I’m not pretending that couples get there overnight. Many couples find couples counselling tough, and a few come a couple of times, realise the amount of effort they are going to have to put into fixing their relationship and decide to break up. I feel sad when that happens, but at least they have made a decision that they have often been putting off for months. The couples that hang in there and stick with it move through the awkward phase they experience with couples dialogue and then slowly find their relationships transforming to a whole new level. They start to see their partner as an ally, and they “get” why they both do the bad stuff in their relationship. They learn how to ask for what they want in a safe way and start to appreciate what their partner needs.

When you come see me for marriage counselling at Manchester Psychotherapy I am going to do my best to keep you together. Imago theory believes strongly in long term relationships for all couples, straight or gay, married or cohabiting. Your partner is likely to be a perfect fit, that’s why you have such an emotional connection. Imago Relationship Therapy helps shift those emotions further into the positive.

Image: graur codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Why We Choose Our Romantic Partner: The Imago

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I’m pleased to introduce you to today’s guest blogger, Dr. Adam Sheck. Dr. Sheck is a Clinical Psychologist and Couples Counselor in Los Angeles trained in Imago Relationship Therapy. He blogs about relationships at his Passion 101 Blogsite.

Imago therapy manchesterWhat is the “Imago” and what does it have to do with how and why we choose our partner?  As a psychologist and couples therapist, I’m often asked what my view is on what brings couples together, on what that attraction is, and what it is about.  Here is my answer, and it lies within the concept of the Imago which I’ll explain shortly.  Warning: if you’re looking for an answer that is about soulmates or karma or fate or beshert, you’ll be disappointed.  My answer is based upon psychological principles.

You know that old cliché that we marry our mother or we marry our father? Well, from a psychological perspective, there is certainly a great deal of truth to that.  I’m trained and certified in Imago Relationship Therapy, which is a really powerful and successful form of couples therapy.

In this theory, we speak about the Imago which is Latin for image.  Deep inside our unconscious, we hold this image of our “perfect” partner.  This image, the Imago has all of the sights and sounds and smells and feelings we gathered while we were growing up.  And guess what, our model for that is very strongly based upon our primary caregivers, usually our parents and sometimes also our extended family.  The Imago is also based upon our neighbors and the books and newspapers and magazines we read and the television and movies we watched.  And these days, of course, it’s also based upon the ubiquitous Internet.

And we take all of those images record and store them with our own unique logic, which is based upon some combination of our genetics and our upbringing and our developing personality.  The kicker here though, is that the unconscious image we have created as the Imago not only includes the good qualities we witnessed, but also the negative traits of our caregivers.  As children, we’re like sponges and we absorb it all.  And so, when we meet someone that is close enough to this Imago, this internalized blueprint, our radar goes up.  And if they have enough of those qualities or we believe that they have enough of those qualities, we fall “in love” and enter that first stage of relationship, the romantic stage, the honeymoon stage.

The honeymoon stage is easy though, as we focus upon the positive qualities of the Imago.  The challenge in most relationships though, is when the honeymoon stage “wears off” and we’re left with this person who has many of the negative traits of our primary caregivers!  That’s where an experienced couples counselor or relationship coach can be of support.  I’ll talk more about the Three Stages of Relationship and how to successfully navigate them in another post.  For now, just mull over the concept of the Imago and see how it applies to your current relationship or past ones if you’re single right now.

Thank you so much,

Dr. Adam Sheck

To reward your loyalty to Ian, I’d like to gift you with my Special Report, “20 Rituals For Romance!” which you can download at www.freepassiontips.com

Four ways to improve your relationship – Antidotes to the Four Horsemen

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4 ways to improve your relationshipIn my last post I discussed what marriage and relationship expert John Gottman has named “the four horseman of divorce“. Gottman has studied relationships from a scientific perspective for decades so he can identify the traits of successful relationships and also spot what breaks couples up. When Gottman sees criticism, defensiveness, contempt and stonewalling in a relationship he knows that a break up is much more likely to occur.

The chances are that you see these four issues in your relationship too. If you are struggling to get along and negativity has crept in then the four horsemen tend to push their way in. All is not lost. You and your partner can turn things around by applying the antidote to these relationship poisons. Here’s an explanation of what they are:

Antidote to Criticism – Complaining

I get that it sounds a bit odd to encourage you to complain more in your relationship but criticism and complaining are worlds apart. When we criticise we use blanket statements that usually include value judgments about our partner. Complaints don’t do that. They specifically target the issue that you are unhappy about and leave your partner in tact as an OK person. Look at these two examples and you can feel the difference:

Criticism: “I asked you to fill the car with petrol so I could use it tonight without having to go to the garage and you have forgotten just like you always do! You’re so selfish, this is typical of you!”

Complaint: “When you use the car and leave it without any petrol I feel angry. Can you fill it up before coming home in future please?”

The critical statement uses “always” as a blanket generalisation (“never” can often be found in criticisms too) and then proceeds to label the partner “selfish” as a blanket judgment. The typical response to such criticism would be defensiveness, because the partner needs to protect him/herself from this personality attack. Defensiveness is the second horseman and just adds more blows to the punch drunk body of the relationship.

The complaint focuses on the issue and the feelings that the complainant felt. It is a great example of what Steiner named an “action/feeling statement”. It also explains to the partner exactly what behaviour they want their partner to do next time. There are no personal attacks and no generalisations. This statement is much more likely to result in an apology, repairing the relationship.

Antidote to Defensiveness – Take Responsibility

Defensive statements find their way into arguments when partners find themselves under attack and feel the need to defend themselves. When we are defensive we are really saying “the problem isn’t me, it’s you”. A defensive answer to the criticism above might be:

“I always fill the car up with petrol and I’m sick of doing it. Anyway, you never asked me to fill it up before I left”.

This is like pouring petrol onto a fire – the argument is only going to get worse to the point where it is impossible to recover.

Instead of being defensive we have to take responsibility for our actions. Steiner talks about the grain of truth in every complaint from your partner in his book “Achieving Emotional Literacy”. There is bound to be some truth in your partner’s complaint so fess up and apologise! When we do this we are adding repair to the argument too, which is likely to deescalate things and sooth your partner.

Antidote to Contempt – Praise and Pride

Gottman states that contempt is the most damaging of the four horsemen. In stable happy relationships the other horsemen may be present in small amounts but there is zero contempt. The antidote is love. Be positive with your partner, praise them whenever you can. Be proud of their achievements and tell them. As I type this it brings in mind my own parents. They have most certainly reached what in Imago therapy is called the “conscious relationship”. Don’t get me wrong, they have their moments and still argue here and there.  What strikes me when I’m with them is how positive about each other they are. My mum takes real pride in the things my Dad has done, whether that’s making the dinner or repairing the shed roof. She will sit and tell me all of these achievements with a big smile on her face and the message is very strong that she thinks he’s brilliant! My Dad is also very positive about my Mum and brushes off some of her more annoying habits with “well, that’s just her way”.

Antidote to Stonewalling – Turn into the relationship rather than away

Stonewalling is when we withdraw from our partner, either physically by moving to another room, or emotionally when we close down and stop responding or just say “yeah, yeah, whatever, yeah” as they are talking to us. Instead of doing this the stonewaller needs to self sooth, calm down and stay emotionally connected. “Easier said than done” I hear you say and to a certain extent I agree. What we have to realise though is all of these techniques demand a great deal of effort to achieve. It’s tough to stay positive about your partner when your relationship is under strain, it’s tough to take responsibility for your actions when you are arguing and it’s tough not to withdraw when you feel under attack, but what’s your alternative? If you do the same in your relationship you get the same.  If you want a strong worthwhile relationship full of love you have to work for it.

As with all things, you are not going to achieve a perfect relationship overnight.  When I deliver couples counselling I will highlight these antidotes as a way of improving the relationship in front of me. You can follow these techniques without a couples therapist too (although working with one is bound to increase your chances of success). As you increase the frequency of these positive behaviours within your relationship you will feel a change. It will become more positive which will add to the good feeling and increase the chances of closeness in the future. Good luck and contact me using the form on my navbar if there is any way you think I can help or you have any questions.