Tag Archives: Marriage counseling in NWA

Healthy Relationships

Building and maintaining healthy relationships is a journey that requires effort, patience, and commitment, to a likeminded individual. Whether you’re in a romantic partnership, a friendship, or a family relationship, the following tips can help you establish and nurture healthy connections.

Effective communication is key to any healthy relationship. This means being open and honest with your partner or friend, expressing your needs and concerns in a respectful manner, and actively listening to their perspective. Communication also involves being mindful of your tone and body language and avoiding behaviors that might be considered negative.

Trust is another essential element of healthy relationships. This involves being reliable, consistent, and transparent in your actions, and respecting your partner’s boundaries and privacy. Trust also means being vulnerable and sharing your thoughts and feelings with your partner and being supportive of them in kind.

Healthy relationships also require a willingness to compromise and work through conflicts. This means acknowledging and addressing issues when they arise, and seeking out solutions that work for both parties. It also involves being patient and empathetic and understanding that relationships are not always perfect or easy.

Finally, self-care is crucial for maintaining healthy relationships. This means taking care of your own physical and emotional needs, setting boundaries to protect your time and energy, and prioritizing activities that bring you joy and fulfillment. When you take care of yourself, you are better equipped to show up as your “best self” in your relationships.

Please call NWA Marriage Family Therapy at 479-225-0055 Office V. M. to make a 60 min. appointment. Offering an affordable sliding scale fee for clients who live in the NWA area or anywhere in Arkansas. Weekends are available..

Thank You.

Link

Counseling, Therapy in the age of AI – Erica

Watching this you tube video of Erica an AI android, was eye opening as far as the speed at which AI is progressing and developing as a technology. These “machines” at first seemed clumsy and slow. Now they seem realistic and life like, with a better command of language and a good sense of humor, complete with facial gestures. Now Erica has her own face book account, and channel. Soon, I think humans will have the option as far as doing therapy with AI versus a human being. The military is already experimenting with AI’s for therapy. It is an interesting choice.

Counseling Research

The dilemma is research on counseling for the last forty years shows that its not about techniques or theories used by the therapists that determine outcomes of clients,, but the relationship developed with your clients in session that helps them heal. Will AI’s be able to mimic this situation? Will the create new ways to do therapy?

Basically, what makes us fundamentally human is how we connect with each other, and share our experience, with others. These interactions are all part of that human experience, hat helps us heal., and connects us to each other.

We are watching how the AI phenomenon is developing at great speed and with surprisingly little social discourse. You tube clip, stated that one AI received citizenship and that we needed to make space for new entities,, not human, not machine. The android needed its own space and place. Wondering how this will all play out ? Any way thought I would share this clip today about Erica. Still want to talk with a human being?

NWA Marriage and Family Therapy

I am a licensed Counselor and a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist available for individual or relationship therapy., Call for an appointment at 479-225-0055 and leave a voice message. Evening and week end hours are available, serving the North West Arkansas (NWA )area.

Thank you.

Carmen

Infidelity, Stay or go? How to Know?

Infidelity, Stay Go How to Know?

Infidelity can come in many forms and happens more often than couples are willing to admit. Studies on infidelity are therefore hard to conduct due to lack of honest data. Any one who has ever experienced infidelity can share how difficult it was go through the experience.

Stay, Go?

The question immediately asked that ruminates painfully in one’s head after an infidelity is, should I stay or go after the infidelity is discovered? The answer often is, it depends on many factors.

The question on staying or going can be more complicated than a one size fits all answer. Your friends & family might tell you to leave as soon as possible, when you would do better to stay. Others may tell you to stay at any and all costs, when it might be safer and better for you to leave. How to know? My goal is to educate people to make long term educated healing choices.

No matter what any book with sure fire “marriage savior” promises you, not all relationships after infidelity can be saved, nor should they be.

Not all relationships after an infidelity however should be terminated or abandoned. Instead, some are very worth fighting for and will grow into a better more mature relationship that is still to come..

The critical question is therefore: How do you know when to stay and when to go after infidelity? What do you need to know to make the best informed choice as to your particular infidelity situation?

Your Informed Choice.

The choice to stay or go is always yours to make. Having an experienced therapists, who is not scared do explore and educate you about your own particular infidelity situation and all the emotions, may help you make a better informed choice.

Call 479-225-0055 to set an appointment for therapy in NWA.

NWA Marriage & Family Therapy to explore and understand your unique infidelity situation.

Thanks Carmen

Communication Problems

Often times one hears of couples saying they have “communication problems”. Such a term is very often used and can be for the most part rather nebulous. It can sometimes be a description for many other problems and or underlying issues in a relationship that have not been explored.

Couples for the most part to communicate very well either directly or indirectly their unhappiness, disappointment, resentment, contempt or anger for each other. Sometimes they punish each other by using avoidance, manipulation or intentional harm that they might be less than willing to talk about or admit to each other. Often times in couples therapy the process of discovering the source of the discomfort or negative patterns might take some time.

Many times the presenting problem of what the couple labels as the issue soon gets overridden by past wounds, hurts or betrayals that have been buried between them and unresolved. Often times these other issues come bubbling up.

Couples who have issues with “communication” sometimes have been carrying these wounds or unfinished business in an indirect way for months or even years. These unhealed wounds are often dragged along unresolved in the relationship and/or marriage longer than is healthy and this can impact their current relational health.

If left unresolved the couple may find that the misunderstanding can escalate very quickly and eventually destroy their relationship. Exploring these resentments, patterns of attachment styles and past wounds every so often sometimes can reconnect a couple. Sometimes the help of a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists can be a good start for a couple to begin to tall openly and to reconnect once again and clear their communication channels.

Valentine’s Day is Every Day

Not all counseling visits are to work on problems, sometimes they are just to make a good relationship better? What a great way to celebrate Valentines Day than with a counseling for your couple to celebrate and reconnect in your commitment. Why is it that we shower our loved one with unconditional love, sweet words, acts of affection and gifts only once a year? Make every day Valentines Day!!

Marriage Therapy in Fayetteville, Bella Vista & Ft.Smith

As we start the new years many people have resolutions made to start the year new and they want to improve or change their relationships and marriage. You don’t have to struggle with the same old marriage or partnership you can create something new with the important person in your life. Going to licensed Marriage and Family Therapists can be a good start to the new year or to a new marriage.

I have flexible hours including marital therapy on week ends in offices in Fayetteville, Bella Vista, and Ft, Smith. Don’t give up those new years resolutions just yet. My sliding scale fee makes it more affordable. Look forward to serving your unique needs