As a society we seem generally disinterested in learning about healthy relationships. We are seldom explicitly taught how to properly relate to each other, and most of the models that we are given are not only unhelpful, but can also be harmful.
Rather, than being taught how to properly nurture ourself and others, many social relationship models generate a set of unrealistic or unattainable expectations and demands that we try to force ourself and others into, including our children.
All of this seems rather unfortunate when you consider that so much of what you are today has been forged through your relationships with others.
When it comes to learning about loving relationships, the social models are even more distorted and unrealistic. Left to make sense of our intimate relationships by ourself, we either continue to struggle within those relationships, or move from one to another trying to figure out what we need to do to make the next one work.
Mainly we repeat our mistakes with very limited understanding of what went wrong before, let alone how to correct it now.
Whether in terms of our children, our marriage, or even with ourself, learning how to love so as to be nurturing and encouraging is a critical life skill we need to acquire.
For good or for bad, relationships are powerful vehicles for determining how we feel about ourselves and others. They can lift us up, and they can also crush us.
Considering how important they are to us, we need to pay far more attention in properly learning about what it is that makes relationships healthy, and what makes them unhealthy.
Couples who are interested will find this to be one of the most important decisions they have ever made.
For couples or marriage counselling please contact me directly at 604-488-9637 or email me using my contact form on the sidebar or at the link directly below.
Dr. Gordon Reid
Ph.D, R. Psych