How Talking to a Therapist Can Improve Your Relationships
Written by Leslie K. Hughes
Medically-reviewed by Dr. Monique White-Dominguez
The most important relationship you have in your life is the one that you have with yourself. It’s important to work first and foremost on that relationship because it’s the one that will be with you every second of every day, through everything that happens to you throughout the course of your entire life.
However, it’s not the only relationship you need to work on. Close relationships with other people in our lives including family, friends, and lovers are highly important, too. But, as you likely know, those relationships don’t come easily. They too require some work. There will inevitably be times that you have some sort of problem in your relationship with someone else, and it’s important to solve that problem in the right way.
Though ignoring it may feel like the easiest route, by taking that route you are basically ensuring that the problem will come up again. The only way to sort through problems with relationships in your life is to talk about them.
And the first step in talking about them is to talk about them with a therapist. From there, you can gain the tools and confidence to talk about the problems with the person themselves.
Read on to learn how your relationships can benefit from talking to a therapist.
Why Talking to a Therapist May Be the Best Thing For Your Relationships
Conflict is a normal part of human life. Whether large or small, conflict is inevitable in any kind of relationship, whether it’s with family, friends, or a romantic partner. It’s how you handle that conflict that can make or break those relationships.
And the truth of the matter is that not all of us were conditioned to deal with those conflicts in the best way, and that’s where the help of a professional becomes essential.
A virtual therapist can help you learn the ins and outs of communication, which is at the heart of every relationship you have. No relationship can expect to be a success if communication is not established.
Here is how talking to a therapist can improve your relationships.
Establish wants and needs
Oftentimes issues arise in relationships because someone isn’t getting what they want or need. And the first step in getting what you want or need is taking some time to understand exactly what it is you want or need. A virtual therapist can help you get there by asking the right questions.
Once you establish those wants and needs, the next step is learning how to communicate those wants and needs to the close people in your life so that they’re aware and can do what they can to provide you with those things.
Explore feelings
There are always two sides to a story, and when a conflict arises, oftentimes those two sides are very different. Working with a therapist can help you to explore your own feelings as well as the feelings of the other close people in your life so that when conflict does happen, you know how to stop assuming you already know the other person’s feelings and instead be ready to listen and learn.
Offer support
You may not always agree with what the close people in your life want and need, but it’s important that you support them. You may find that you have different goals and needs than they do, but that does not make their wants and needs invalid. A virtual therapist can play a key role in helping you learn how to support someone in your life that you’re unable to support right now so that you can help them become the best version of themselves.
Express your own feelings
Just as you need to be able to explore the feelings of the close people in your life, you also need to be able to express to them your feelings. Your feelings are important, too. This can be tough, especially if you have never really felt confident in expressing your feelings in the past. That’s where a virtual therapist comes in to help you identify your feelings and then provide you with the tools to best express those feelings to the people you love.
By taking the time to talk to a therapist, you open up the doors to having the best relationships you could have imagined; ones that are full of love, communication, honesty, and trust – even when you have a disagreement.
