Your Relationship is Only as Healthy as the Unhealthist Person
Energy Psychology had fostered a completely different way of doing couples therapy because Emotional Freedom Techniques allows us to easily eliminate distress and blocks to making the necessary changes to having a good relationship. Read the article by David Feinstein below published in a recent issue of Psychotherapy Networker.
There are actually three helpful approaches to this work that are different from traditional couples work:
- Dissolve the partners distress about annoying, disturbing behavior
- Remove blocks to the other parties resistance or ability to change behaviors when needed
- Identify communications or learning styles and Love Languages
Accomplishing step 1 removes the energetic entanglement and an investment in the other person changing. Doing this, by no means, justifies the offending or inappropriate behavior. This makes it easier to accomplish step 2 for the other partner. Step 3 helps to make shifts in communications so that connection is improved and maintained.
Psychotherapy Networker recently published an article interviewing my colleague and fellow tapper David Feinstein, Ph.D. and a case history.
In addition to the work above, I teach couples new, more effective communications techniques based on the work of Harville Hendrix and Steve Karpman.
I also teach other Non-violent communications methods. These techniques help shift understanding, create closeness, take responsibility for thoughts, feelings and actions, and minimize the sense of being attacked by the partner, to hear information instead of attack, therefore minimizing the need to go on the defensive and defend oneself.
Of course, as with any therapy, there is no guarantee that these techniques will save your relationship. It just may be too far gone to salvage, however, you may have some new skills for the next one!