Ways That Working on the Relationship with Your Therapist Can Help You Improve Your Relationships Outside of Therapy
Sometimes we forget that your relationship with your therapist is STILL a relationship which means that working on your relationship with your therapist can also help you work on issues showing up in your other relationships. Kind of cool, right? Even though your therapist doesn’t directly get to see how you interact with others outside of therapy, they do get a glimpse at how you show up, based on how you’re relating to them in session.
We asked several of our Towson therapists about ways that working on your relationship with your therapist can help you in your relationships outside of therapy. Here’s what they had to say.
Your relationship with your therapist can sometimes mirror experiences you have in other relationships outside of therapy. The difference is, your therapist can help you identify recurring themes/cycles that occur within the therapeutic relationship in order to help you identify (and maybe change) those same themes/cycles in other relationships.
Building a safe and healthy relationship with your therapist can help you learn ways to also build safe and healthy relationships outside of therapy. This might look like applying the tools we talk about and model in therapy, like setting healthy boundaries and communicating honestly and directly.
In session, you are in a safe space to process relationship difficulties and any internal experiences that come up when with your partner that you may not be able to express or process outside of session.
While your therapist’s main job is to be your advocate, your therapist is also a neutral, third party with a fresh perspective. As someone who knows you, yet serves to challenge you, they can also provide a low-stakes environment where you can test out skills or ways to communicate with your partner.
Therapy can provide you with insight on conflicts that may arise in your interpersonal relationships and how to navigate a resolution. Therapists can offer a different perspective or challenge some negative thoughts that you may have to better understand yourself and your relationships with others.
Through therapy you can practice and learn healthier communication skills, like expressing your emotions and setting better boundaries. With these skills you can strengthen your ability to communicate with the people in your life.
Building trust between you and your therapist can improve your relationship outside of therapy. Having that trust in your therapist is important because this makes you feel that you are able to open up with your therapist and communicate your struggles. You are also able to communicate effectively with people outside of therapy.
Therapeutic relationships also work effectively when working with your therapist to build relationships. Therapists work together to build therapeutic relationships which then leads the client to show emotions, feeling, thoughts, and beliefs. What you have learned in therapy can be applied outside of therapy.
Are you working with a therapist now? If so, pay attention to the ways that you and your therapist interact and relate to one another. Are there areas where you’d like to improve your relationship with your therapist or others outside of the therapy room? If so, be sure to let your therapist know. Even though, that can be a difficult topic to bring up, your therapist wants that feedback, so they can best support you.
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Interested in Counseling for Communication Skills and Boundary Setting?
If you’re a Marylander who knows that counseling is the direction you need to take, the therapists at LifeSpring Counseling Services are here to help. We offer online counseling services for mindfulness, depression, anxiety, trauma, and grief and loss. We also offer Brainspotting as a specialized service, and Brainspotting can be done online, too!
Here’s how you can get started! Online counseling for communication skills and boundary setting aren’t the only services offered at our Monkton, Maryland office.
The counselors and social workers at our Maryland office also offer counseling services for trauma, grief and loss, boundary setting, communication skills, and difficult life transitions. We also offer specialized counseling services including Brainspotting and spiritually-integrated counseling. Because we are located next to several local universities, we also work with college students and international students.
