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DEaling With Conflict Sept 5
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As anyone who has a relationship of any kind knows, conflict is unavoidable, whether it's between partners, friends, parent and child, family, co-workers, etc.
It can crop up for any number of reasons, and in many cases, it escalates not because there is a real issue, but because the issues are not being communicated and understood between the parties involved. As we all think differently, it's easy for something to be poorly communicated or taken out of context! We have different moods, different upbringings, different experiences, and different perceptions of almost every subject and situation. How do you handle conflict? How does your "opponent" handle it? Let's find out! |
Setting Boundaries Sept 12
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Do you have trouble setting boundaries?
Are you consistently being “taken advantage of”? Are you always “too nice” and never get your needs met? Setting boundaries is an important part of establishing our identity and is a crucial aspect of mental health and well-being. So many people have misconceptions of what healthy boundaries are and how important they are to maintaining or growth, self-esteem and relationships. Some might feel that they aren't really important or may not even understand what they are, but in reality all healthy relationships have boundaries. It’s important for both people to be clear about who they are, what they want, and to identify and express their beliefs, values and limits. This event will help everyone better understand boundaries, why we need them and how to possibly implement them in a relationship. |
Needs & Expectations Sept 19
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In most relationships, it is our "expectation" that our partner will value our needs and desires as much as their own.
Needs and expectations can fuel and influence how we relate, react, and respond to everything that we do and to everyone around us. But most of us don’t even realize that we have these expectations until we find ourselves feeling disappointed, upset, and experiencing a great deal of confusion within the struggles of life. This event will help us see that sometimes it is our own expectations that are the problem rather than our partner. |
Let's Communicate SEpt 26
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Communication (or a lack of effective communication) either makes or breaks most relationships.
Relationships don’t exist in a vacuum. They exist between two emotional human beings who bring their own past experiences, history, and expectations into it. Two different people also have different levels of skill when it comes to communication, but the good news is that if communication is a skill, then it can be improved. We can all develop our communication skills. We can all improve our relationships with better communication. So let’s do that! |
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What is Gaslighting? May 30
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Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse that’s seen in abusive relationships. It’s the act of manipulating a person by forcing them to question their thoughts, memories, and the events occurring around them.
A victim of gaslighting can be pushed so far that they question their own sanity and whether intentional or not, is a form of manipulation. Gaslighting can happen in many types of relationships, including those with bosses, friends, and parents. But one of the most devastating forms of gaslighting is when it occurs in a relationship between a couple. |
Why We Cheat June 6
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Cheating is rarely just about sex. In fact, there are studies that suggest that cheating for sexual gratification alone is responsible for less than 20% of the cases.
An affair is rarely the actual problem; it is usually the symptom of the problem. Infidelity is a complicated and difficult subject to deal with in a relationship, and the best way to prevent a problem is to first understand what is happening and then to develop our skills in the areas that lead to it happening. Being “conscious” in our relationships is a major step. |
Bridges or Barriers? June 13
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Communication plays a major role in opening up and connecting with our partner, but there are many barriers to communication that we can overcome with some awareness.
Unfortunately, when we are not "aware", we end up building walls in our relationships without even realizing it. If we want to overcome these barriers, it's vital that we take the time to become aware of what we are unconsciously doing that may be building those walls, instead of building the bridges needed to communicate more effectively. We will look at many examples of both poor and excellent communication to see if we can better understand what might want to do, and not do when trying to communicate! |
What is Happiness? June 20
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So what is happiness anyway? Well, it’s a state of mind that can be different for everyone, but in general terms, it’s a feeling of pleasure or contentment that is different from more intense feelings or emotions such as ecstasy or bliss. For many it is considered the opposite of sadness.
Many of us seek happiness as if it’s a way that we can always feel, but realistically, that is simply not likely to happen, since happiness is a temporary feeling or emotion. Let’s take a closer look at what happiness really is, why we seek it, how we might be able to achieve it on a more consistent basis, and even why we might want to reconsider it as our ultimate state of being! |
A Conscious Partner - Development Team
A Conscious Partner is the fun, affordable and interactive way to
discover more about yourself and others, and to answer the question:
"Why do the same things keep happening to me?"
Please feel free to contact us at any time with any questions that you may have!
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How To Trust Again July 4
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Trust: You cannot have a healthy relationship without it, and yet virtually all of us can bring to mind a scenario where our trust has been broken.
But how do we develop trust in the first place? Can trust that’s been broken be rebuilt? As young children, we quickly learn to tell if someone is being untruthful. It may be that someone doesn’t follow through with their promises, or a parent makes threats they don’t follow through on. As we grow older, we fine tune our expectations and behavior by learning not to trust an untruthful person, which helps protect ourselves from being let down again, so when trying to develop trust in a new relationship, it’s important that we don’t say things that we won’t follow through with. |
Chemistry & Compatability July 11
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Is it Chemistry or Compatibility?
It's pretty easy to get them mixed up! Chemistry is what gets a relationship started, but its compatibility that keeps it going for the long run. We certainly want them both, but it's important to understand the difference. In a relationship filled with initial chemistry, it's easy to miss the red flags and the incompatible traits, as there is often a cloud of sexual tension that gets in the way. In a compatible relationship, two people can actually be quite different in many ways, but will tend to agree on the core values that dictate how they want to live their lives and build their lives together. They will strive to meet each others wants needs because they want to, not because they have to. |
The 5 Love Languages July 18
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Quality Time – Physical Touch – Receiving Gifts
Words of Affirmation – Acts of Service Many of us have heard of the 5 Love Languages, a book by Gary Chapman, but understanding each of the languages and how it pertains to our relationships is not quite as easy as we think. Understanding love languages can go a long ways towards understanding both ourselves and our partner as we try to navigate our way towards a long term relationship. This event gives us the opportunity to examine the love languages in real time and with real people so that we can all get a better perspective of how they can impact our relationship |
Inner Peace July 25
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If we want to find someone that will help us find inner peace, shouldn't we know what that is so that we can identify it when we do find it?
The world can be an intimidating and tumultuous place that brings with it significant stress and trauma. Inner peace is the state of calm that we feel within ourselves even when our surroundings, the people around us and our relationships might seem a little chaotic! Our lives and relationships should be the place where we can achieve that inner peace simply by being together, and if it doesn't, then the first question we should be asking is "why not?". |
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Letting Go of The Past August 1
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Emotional pain prevents us from healing and it’s a sign that we aren’t moving forward in a growth-oriented way.
The best way to heal from this pain is to understand why it’s there, learn whatever lessons can be learned and then continue the process of living and growing. If we get stuck in thinking about what “should have been,” we can become immobilized in painful feelings and memories. If you’re trying to move forward after a painful experience, come out to better understand what you are dealing with. |
Emotional Triggers August 8
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All of us have some trigger or “hot button,” that, when pushed, sets us off into uncomfortable emotions that may even lead to anger, hostility, fear, and ultimately, our bad habits. Does that happen to you sometimes? All the time?
We may have heard of “trigger warnings” or “getting triggered”, but what does “getting triggered” mean, and how can we control it? It is worth putting in the effort to explore our emotional triggers. The more aware we are, the less we will be ruled by our unconscious programming. |
RElationship Killers August 15
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Relationships are hard enough without us behaving in ways that have the potential to destroy our relationships. In most cases, we are completely unaware of what we are doing and the impact that it has on our lives.
There are some relatively obvious behaviours like poor communication and less than ideal conflict skills, but there are many others that can creep into our lifestyle with devastating effects on any current or potential relationships. It occurs so quickly that we may not even understand what is happening. This event has us taking a look at all of the unconscious ways we act that often keep us from being happy! |
People Pleasing August 22
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In many cases, people-pleasing can get addictive because of the rewards it brings, but that is also what makes it harmful.
People pleasing is a pattern, and if we have that pattern, then it’s likely that we often try to be who others want us to be. We tend to always agree and try to “fit in”. We may not even realize we are doing this, because it’s so familiar to us that it has become a true “pattern” or habit. Instead of being who we want to be, our goal is to please others in order to avoid negative reactions that make us uncomfortable. Too much “people-pleasing” causes us to lose our own path and we might become what people call a “doormat” and never be our true selves. |