Research shows that holding hands with a partner reduces stress. Hand holding (and other forms of positive touch) seem to work best as stress-reducers in healthy relationships.

Relationships, like gardens require constant cultivation and often communication difficulties, influences from the past, difficult life events, parenting problems, disappointments, challenging intimacy skills or issues in resolving conflict, dealing with a crisis and other issues can place quite a strain on relationships. Communication and intimacy are key to healthy relationships and symptoms often present here with arguing or conflict. A couple may want to stay together, but struggle to get through some persistent circular issues, or an event, such as an affair or a loss and you may have reached a point where all your resources to cope or stabilise the relationship have reached breaking point. .

I intend to offer some strategic exercises and skills to implement more experience of co-regulation to help cultivate talking about things that are difficult to talk about at home, and support the couple to make choices about where they are now, where they wish to go from here, and how to do that. All healthy relationships experience change and life transitions with circumstances that impact in ways that might be difficult to predict, where there are different responses to trauma, bereavement or job changes as well as having children.

The impact of relationships when they get into difficulty is profound and can be at the heart of much distress and unhappiness. I aim to facilitate a process that encourages partners to listen to and understand each other and to work towards a positive and healthy way forward and to support couples in improving the quality of their relationship and find ways to reconnect again even when there have been some trauma between them.

Common relationship problems, are 

• lack of trust
• betrayal or affair
• jealousy
• lack of communication
• financial issues
• work-related stress
• abusive behaviour
• different sexual needs or other sexual issues
• family conflicts
• different goals and values
• different parenting styles
• controlling behaviour
• life changes
• Separation or divorce