I mentioned in last month's email how Spring in Seattle brings so much life and breath to the residents here. And I have been thinking about that a lot over the last few weeks and as we head into Mental Health Awareness Month. Every day is important to focus on our health in all areas and I like the idea of seasons changing being similar to our health.
When we dive into focusing on our mental health, we often have to unravel or dig up patterns, behaviors, thoughts, and emotions that are impacting our minds and emotions. We have to explore the roots of them, what triggers them or brings them to the forefront, and begin to understand them. Eventually, we move into skill-building or creating new patterns/behaviors and processing how the shift and change impact our lives. Finally, we move into, what I call, the maintenance phase and begin to implement our change on our own, building trust and security in our ability to change and finding ease and ritual in the process.
Whatever season you are in, I encourage you to keep moving into the change and growth. There is challenge and struggle in change as well as beauty and fulfillment. Remind yourself the seasons change and evolve and so can you.
April Date Night Review
Date Week
We continue to forget to take Spring Break off each year and my in-laws bless us by taking our daughter for the week so we had multiple opportunities to date one another for a week. Dinner out, home projects together, lazy mornings together. It's a refreshing week for us though we miss our daughter immensely the whole week.
Goodbye Party
Our good friends had a going away party before they moved and we spent date night celebrating with them. We are sad to see them go as they were our double date couple and my friend and I share a psychology background. We are looking forward to future date nights with them in Arizona during the winter months because I do not like hot weather so I'll visit when it's cooler.
Long Beach Weekend
For the last three years, our family has joined a few other families that are in the same line of business as my husband and spend the weekend together. We went to Long Beach, WA this year and it was a cute small, beach town. It's fun to see how the kids grow each year and watch them all play together. We stayed in an old mansion that had the coolest spaces and plenty of space for all of us. It was a great weekend!
I had to share my daughter's love for the beach. She reminds me often how to slow down, explore, and enjoy right where you are at.
Bingo
We tried Bingo out together and had no idea what we were getting into. We both were intimidated by the process although my husband loved it because of that. We also didn't realize we signed up for the extended version which ends up being 4 hours of Bingo. It was a fun experience, but maybe not one we would do often. We did make our own family bingo game the next night to play with our daughter and had a blast playing together.
Couples Counseling Theme of the Month
Setting a Vision
It's common for couples to seek counseling to focus on an area in their relationship that is not working or they want to change. What I have been noticing lately in the work we do is that couples do not always know what they are wanting to create or build with their partner.
I believe couples therapy is more impactful when the work is focused on creating and building more of what you want versus focusing on eliminating or deleting what you do not want.
For example, when you come in because you have too much conflict or are stuck in conflict many couples will say "I want to reduce the amount of conflict we have." This is a fair statement and also a positive dynamic to pursue. Now, look at it when you say what you want more of or what you want to create and develop: "I want to build a dynamic with my partner that allows us to move through conflict together in a connected way. I want to be able to hear my partner's feelings and needs in addition to mine. I want to be a couple who healthily resolves conflict."
I know I am biased being a couples therapist, but I think it is way more powerful to describe what you want to create, build, or what you want more of. To do this well, you need to set a vision for your relationship. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you set or paint the vision:
- What are my core values and how do I want those reflected in my relationship?
- What kind of emotional needs/connection do I need in partnership?
- What are my expectations/dreams/goals around communication, conflict, and connection?
- What are the long-term goals I have for my relationship?
- How would I know I have a healthy, loving, positive relationship?
Whether you are in counseling, considering it, or wanting to work on growing your relationship, I highly recommend you set a relationship vision first to help you build and create the relationship you want.
What's New and Upcoming Workshops/Trainings
Openings for Dionne
Dionne has openings for new clients. If you are looking to grow your relationship stronger, we would love to schedule a free 20-minute consult to hear more about what you are looking for in therapy and see if Dionne is a fit. Dionne is licensed in Washington State. You can email admin@connectedcouplescounseling.com to schedule a consult.
Prepare/Enrich Training
For therapists and those in ministry, join us to pursue certification in the Prepare/Enrich assessment and method to help mentor and grow couples. There is almost 40 years of research validation showing this assessment is a trusted, comprehensive relationship assessment for couples.
During this one-day training, you will be taught how to use the program and all its features for the couples you will support in your practice or ministry. Certification will give you the core knowledge and skills to confidently utilize the assessment and feedback resources.
After the training, you will be able to:
- Prepare couples to take the assessment
- Interpret the assessment insight and give personalized feedback
- Facilitate relationship-skill building with couples
- Create and guide meaningful discussions among couples
The training is $250 whether virtual or in-person.
You can register for July 19th from 9-4 PST virtually OR For our in-person date on October 5th in Seattle from 9-4 PST.
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$250.00
Prepare/Enrich Training
Become a certified Prepare/Enrich Faciliatator by attending our in-person or virtual workshop. You'll learn how to use... Read more |
Digital Products
I have been finding myself passionate and in the creativity mode with ways to build your relationship stronger outside of counseling. I have been creating some digital products and now have two available.
Keeping The Love Alive Workbook
Perfect for couples who have done some counseling or are open to exploring a variety of ways to build communication, connection, and better conflict management skills. The workbook helps you set a relationship vision, walks you through building better communication between the two of you, develops your conflict management skills and increase your connection.
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$20.00
Keeping the Love Alive Workbook
Dive into our version of relationship adventure with a focus on communication, conflict and connection. Each section... Read more |
Couples Journal
52 weeks of gratitude prompts, love letter prompts, and weekly relationship check-in with space to free write each week too. Blank dates so you can begin whenever and take as long as you desire to utilize the journal. Quarterly and annual reflection throughout the journal.
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$10.00
Couples Journal
52 weeks of gratitude prompts, love letter prompts, and weekly relationship check-in with space to free write each week... Read more |
New on the Blog this Month
We created a YouTube account to offer more vlogs and will be offering more of these over the next few months. You can subscribe here.
We are working on ensuring we are creating content and sharing information that is valuable to you. If you have a topic you'd like us to dive into deeper, please shoot us a reply with what you are looking for.
