Partnering Through Conflict
Couples in Crisis (CiC) is not the typical approach to couple / marriage counseling. Couples in Crisis focuses specifically upon partnering through conflict.
Partnering through Conflict emphasizes the two rules of a safe, functional, and healthy relationship:
Rule 1. I will protect you from me.
Rule 2. I cannot protect you from you.
The idea is, there are three sources of conflict in a relationship:
1. The intrapersonal conflict (baggage)you brought with you into the relationship,
2. The intrapersonal conflict (baggage)your partner brought with them into the
relationship, and
3. The new conflict both parties create when the two are mixed together.
While each partner works with me individually on their own baggage, couple sessions focus on the difficulty/ resistance experienced in utilizing Agreements as a mediator.
To participate in Couples in Crisis both partners agree to participate in one month of weekly individual sessions AND CiC sessions. This first month of CiC introduces the dynamic of Agreements while individual sessions focus on discerning individual leanings and predilections.
Within the first month we will establish what works and what doesn't.
In lieu of divorce, CiC can effectively be combined with a therapeutic separation.
Obviously, CiC only works with partners that wish to remain partners.
