Your Significant Other Should Not Be Your Therapist

Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

1252

Abstract

onal or associated with certain work cycles. It might also be something that is constant. In any case, the supporting partner is tasked with being consistently solid while also maintaining their own well-being. And sometimes it is hard to be positive and solid and consistent for your partner when they are going through prolonged periods of anxiety, grief, or stress.</p><h2 id="a42b">So, what do you do if you are a supporting partner and you want to be solid for your significant other, but you are starting to feel like you can’t do it all the time?</h2><p id="1d2e">The answer is somewhat obvious, but maybe harder to implement. Our partners in life are not meant to be our therapists. We sometimes get into the habit of leaning on certain people in our lives without thinking about the strain it might be causing them. It is important to develop a support system as individuals that consists of more than one person, regardless of if they are our partner or not. Friendships can be strained in the same way.</p><p id="b829">This is not to say that we should shy away from confiding in our significant others. Our partners will still often be the first person to hear our good and bad news on a daily basis. But, the nature of anxiety, grief, and

Options

stress is that they are things that need to be grappled with. And, it likely does not make sense to involve your significant other in the entire process of dealing with your anxiety or grief or stress.</p><p id="dde8">More likely, you should be doing some work on your own, some work with your partner, some work with friends and other family members, and in many cases some work with a therapist.</p><p id="0662">Whether you are the supporting partner or the partner being supported, it is healthy to have this conversation and define boundaries or limits for the sake of sustaining a long term relationship that is still joyful and resilient.</p><p id="e813">This is likely an ongoing conversation that all couples need to have, but so often we just let the ebbs and flows of life negatively impact our relationships with our significant others without being intentional about how to deal with things. The challenge is balancing a relationship where both people feel comfortable sharing while also maintaining a maximum level of combined individual well-being. In other words, there is some optimal level of well-being at any given moment where both partners added together are as healthy and positive as they can be as a couple.</p></article></body>

But they should be solid for you

Your significant other should not be your therapist. Do you agree or disagree? I think most people would agree. But, I think a lot of couples struggle to define the line between a partner being solid and a partner being a therapist. Everyone goes through tough times, and our significant others are the ones that we turn to first to at least tell us things are going to be ok. Sometimes though, the tough times last longer than we’d like and that causes strain in relationships.

Consider a partner going through a bout with anxiety or grief or stress at work. It might be something that happens for a few weeks at a time or something that is seasonal or associated with certain work cycles. It might also be something that is constant. In any case, the supporting partner is tasked with being consistently solid while also maintaining their own well-being. And sometimes it is hard to be positive and solid and consistent for your partner when they are going through prolonged periods of anxiety, grief, or stress.

So, what do you do if you are a supporting partner and you want to be solid for your significant other, but you are starting to feel like you can’t do it all the time?

The answer is somewhat obvious, but maybe harder to implement. Our partners in life are not meant to be our therapists. We sometimes get into the habit of leaning on certain people in our lives without thinking about the strain it might be causing them. It is important to develop a support system as individuals that consists of more than one person, regardless of if they are our partner or not. Friendships can be strained in the same way.

This is not to say that we should shy away from confiding in our significant others. Our partners will still often be the first person to hear our good and bad news on a daily basis. But, the nature of anxiety, grief, and stress is that they are things that need to be grappled with. And, it likely does not make sense to involve your significant other in the entire process of dealing with your anxiety or grief or stress.

More likely, you should be doing some work on your own, some work with your partner, some work with friends and other family members, and in many cases some work with a therapist.

Whether you are the supporting partner or the partner being supported, it is healthy to have this conversation and define boundaries or limits for the sake of sustaining a long term relationship that is still joyful and resilient.

This is likely an ongoing conversation that all couples need to have, but so often we just let the ebbs and flows of life negatively impact our relationships with our significant others without being intentional about how to deal with things. The challenge is balancing a relationship where both people feel comfortable sharing while also maintaining a maximum level of combined individual well-being. In other words, there is some optimal level of well-being at any given moment where both partners added together are as healthy and positive as they can be as a couple.