Two years ago we opened the doors
to our boutique style private practice in Uptown Waterloo. Since then our mission has been to help the
people of Kitchener-Waterloo through the various challenges of love and life,
and to develop and enjoy the fulfilling lives we know that they deserve! We are
Bliss Individual and Relationship Therapy, and over the last 24 months our eight
specialized therapists have counselled over 1000 amazing people.
Reaching this exciting
milestone has us all reflecting on anniversaries and relationships in general. No relationship is without work, and as
therapists our first instinct is always to help, so to mark our anniversary we
have put together the following eight tips for building strong partnerships and
relationships.
Eight Tips for building blissful relationships:
1. Toast
the past and make goals together for the future.
"An anniversary is
a time for celebration! Look back and reflect on the accomplishments and
periods of growth. No matter what happened… you made it through. It is also an
opportunity to set new intentions going forward in your relationship! Take a
pause, take a breath, enjoy and celebrate this milestone! " - Kelly McDonnell-Arnold | Sexologist
2. Your relationship is unique. Don’t compare!
"Sex means something
different and is different for everyone. Try not to compare your sex life to
things you see or hear about from other people." - Lindsay Kenna | Relationship and Sex Therapist
3. Talk to your partner and share!
“The best way to keep a
relationship going strong is to invite your partner on your journey.
Communicate your wants and needs clearly, share your fears, and be vulnerable.”
- Tammy
Benwell | Therapist
4. Trust each other.
“Trust is the backbone of any
relationship. If you can develop trust in yourself, you will be able to listen
to your feelings and share them with your partner. There also has to be trust
that your partner will be able to manage their own feelings in response to
yours. With this trust, couples can learn from each other and grow together,
rather than apart.” - Heather
Anderson | Psychologist
5. Be awesome alone, be awesome together.
“It is important to give one
another space inside of your relationship. The word space often scares people
because they think their partner is unhappy. The reality is that you are
hurting your relationship if each of you does not have the space to be an individual
within your partnership. Having space creates healthy relationships. When you
take the time to emotionally recharge as an individual, it takes the stress off
your relationship and allows you to enjoy each other more as a couple.” - Tonya Beattie | Therapist
6. When you encounter difficult times, trust in
each other and the relationship you have built.
“When tremendous loss is
experienced in a relationship, such as the death of loved one, it can be
difficult, even painful to support or be supported by your partner. Our
inclination when someone is in pain may be to try to "fix it". The
reality of grief is that it cannot be fixed; it is our natural response to the
loss of someone or something we loved, and therefore it will be experienced. First,
recognize that you and your partner will experience grief in your own unique
way and it is important to honour that in one another. Provide space for your partner
to experience and express their feelings without judgment or the desire to make
it better. Finally, turn toward one another rather than the often-easier
response, which is to turn away from the pain and hurt, and the relationship.
Marriages and partnerships can survive profound loss, and it will take empathy,
compassion and mutual respect for each other's experience of grief to help that
happen.” - Melissa
Reid | Grief Therapist
7. No
one wins when you keep score.
“I think that many busy
couples struggle to avoid 'keeping score' of who is doing more than the other.
Try to consider that even though you may be working at very different things or
in different settings, you might both be working as hard as you can and doing a
great job with your respective responsibilities.” - Heather Stuart | Therapist
8. Know that you are both right and both
wrong.
“In a relationship, both
people can be exactly right and exactly wrong at the same time. Try to focus
less on being "right" and more on understanding the space in between.
You might ask yourself, "How can I better understand why my partner feels
this way?" When we give up a little bit of power we have the opportunity
to gain a little bit of compassion.” - Jenna Luelo | Therapist
As we here at Bliss head
into our third year, our goal is to continue to grow and develop as a practice
in order to best help you navigate through the challenges of life, both in your
relationships and in your individual journeys!
Want to know more about Bliss Individual and Relationship
Therapy’s team and journey?
Check out our infographic!
