Couples & Partnerships (see also Race, Gender & Sexual Abuse & Family Systems )

How did it start so right and end up so wrong? What changed so much that you didn't see before? Why does having children or their leaving home create so much conflict? What happened to the words 'love' and 'future'?

Couples today face stresses and pressures that are driven by economics, work and the dilemmas of responsibility and commitment where children are concerned. RPL have successfully helped bring together those who have struggled in near marital/partnership break-ups due to:

• economic, life-direction or work related issues
• emotional or sexual unavailability
• addictions, financial or sexual betrayals
• the birth of children and the parent-partner split
• conflicts in parenting styles and values
• single parenting (male/female) and forming new relationships
• parenting for those going through divorce or separation
• formation of blended/step families
• conflicts in managing dynamics of partnering and parenting
• marital/partnership conflicts due to multi-racial or multi-cultural issues.

At RPL, we use a model that avoids a 'Punch & Judy Show' between couples and helps each individual reflect on their own issues. At RPL, each person in the couple unit can only be responsible for 50% of the difficulties involved. We cannot predict the outcome of our work, though we currently find it exceptional for couples to separate despite the apparent desperation of their situation. Individuals within the couple container are seen separately and confidentially for work relevant to their fears in relationship, intimacy, commitment, surrender and independence. An understanding of what is projected into the relationship helps to dissolve the dysfunctions and their origins, resulting in better communication and decision making processes.