What is divorce and separation counselling, and how does it work?
The terms ‘separation counselling’ and ‘divorce counselling’ describe counselling for couples or individuals who want support while they go through the process of formally ending their relationship. The process is the same, regardless of whether they have been legally married or not. …
Four easy ways to strengthen a cross-cultural relationship
Most relationships are cross-cultural to a degree – two people coming together from different backgrounds, families and environments. For some, differences will be minor and easy to adjust to. For others, who are trying to accommodate major differences in beliefs, values and ideas, …
The benefits of marriage counselling by Telehealth
How do we maintain our mental health and continue to work on our relationships in the time of COVID-19 and social distancing? Most mental health practitioners are now conducting sessions via teleconferencing, using either Telehealth or videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom. As …
How to survive your relationship during COVID-19
Many couples and families are working-from-home and home-schooling in the same house because of coronavirus. These are important measures that will help contain the COVID-19 pandemic, but I am seeing an increase in anxiety from people who have to self- isolate or …
How do I get my child to open up to me?
Raising resilient children who can tackle their own challenges is something we all strive for as parents. But how do we also ensure they seek our advice if they encounter a difficult problem or they feel anxious about something? Or, in their …
How do I talk to my teen about self-harm and why it is important to get the right help.
Parents are rightly shocked when they discover their child is self-harming. A common response is to avoid the topic because they don’t know what to say, or to take drastic action to try to stop the behaviour immediately. Sometimes self-harm is dismissed …
How to stop bickering with your partner
Bickering, niggling ongoing arguments between a couple can really drag a relationship down and lead to general unhappiness for everyone concerned – the couple and any children who are often witness to it. Bickering can also impact extended family and friends if …
Adolescent Violence and Abuse in Families
There is a lot of discussion about violence between adult partners, but very little about teenagers who are violent and abusive towards other family members. As a Family Therapist I meet many parents who feel like they are “walking on eggshells” around …
“My Husband or Wife is always angry” – How to Deal with an Angry Partner
In this article I discuss anger that shows up in a relationship. Typically, there is a complaint by one partner that the other partner is angry all of the time. The ‘anger’ we are talking about here is not violence or abuse …
How Post-Separation Counselling Can Help you Separate well if you have Kids
Sometimes during couples counselling, the couple decide to separate. If the couple have children, they commonly ask the Couples Counsellor about ongoing counselling to help them separate well. This is called Post-Separation Counselling. It is different to mediation which is a dispute-resolution process …