Brain Injury, Chronic Pain, Marriage and/or Relationship Issues Imago Relationship Therapy

Brain Injury, Chronic Pain, Marriage and/or Relationship Issues

Brain injury can cause a many emotional difficulties. It can change the ways in which a person functions emotionally and in the way he or she expresses emotions. There could be a wide range of emotional difficulties, such as difficulty with controlling mood swings.

While some brain injury victims experience a change in emotions right away, others may take months to show changes in the way they behave. Some people with brain injuries will experience quick and intense emotional changes, but they will calm down again quickly. Alternatively, they may experience emotional lability, or severe mood swings.

These behavioural changes are sometimes the result of damage to the emotional center in the brain. There is not always a specific trigger that causes the sudden emotional response in the patient, and that can be very confusing for loved ones. They will often take the blame for the sudden outbursts on themselves, thinking that they did something to upset the patient. In some cases, the person might express emotions they don't feel at all, because they are unable to control the emotions they express.

In most cases, symptoms dissipate in the months following the brain injury, allowing the patient to return to more balanced emotional balance. However, people with brain injury and their families have found hope in working closely with a therapists. A therapists who offers brain injury counselling will help establish the cause of emotional changes and reassure the family and friends, while equipping them with better coping skills. A range of therapies can help improve emotional expression in brain injury patients.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist who offers cognitive behavioural therapy or counselling to address your brain injury issues you may want to search the directory to find a professional whose approach will suit you best.

Chronic pain brings hundreds of people to therapy every week. Many physical and psychological issues can cause chronic pain and it is important to rule out any medical causes and get treatment by speaking to a physician.

Some people experience chronic pain as the result of untreated emotional overwhelm, unexpressed anger, depression or grief. Symptoms of chronic pain typically include headaches; muscle tension, pain or fatigue;  shooting nerve pains, and tension in the back, neck and shoulders.

Many people with chronic pain disorder are reluctant to explore the emotional causes of their pain for fear of being told that they are inventing the symptoms. However, true somaticizing is a very real condition in which the emotions are unable to leave the body.

Another reason why people are loathe to admit the emotional roots of their pain, is that they fear that there would be no medical cure. Chronic pain with an emotional root requires that they confront the emotions that have been hidden away, and this can be challenging.

Therapists and psychologists who do  chronic pain therapy offer a confidential and safe environment in which people can explore pent-up emotions and as a result experience short term and long term relief. Symptoms caused by long term emotional build-up may require long-term treatment and due to the physical changes, some medical intervention and active physiotherapy is often very important as well.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist who works with chronic pain you may want to search the directory to find a professional whose approach will suit you best.

Entering into a relationship means merging your life with another person, understanding his or her flaws, quirks and beliefs. With marriage rates declining and divorce statistics set at 50%, it is clear that people are increasingly challenged by marriage and relationship issues, and many lack effective ways to address them. So how can we bridge the gap to understanding our partners better and enjoying romantic bliss?

Many factors affect the interpersonal relationship between two partners who are a couple and sometimes it's hard to see the cause of conflict or friction in a relationship. While some people find divorce to be the best or only option, other people speak to counsellors and psychologists  in a bid to try salvage the relationship.

Signs that indicate a need for couples counselling include poor communication in a relationship, affairs, living past one another, inability to resolve marriage of couples' issues, and acting out negative feelings. When divorce seems like the only option, or if a couple is staying together for the kids' sake, that's a sure sign that therapy is needed.

Therapists do not necessarily  believe that all marriages can be salvaged, but counselling can often help even some of the most challenged relationships.  Through talk therapy, the couple will discover again why they fell in love and what they can do to get back to that place in their marriage. They use a range of effective, proven methods to help couples in any situation to restore intimacy and move past the hurt and wounds to a safe and comfortable place.

The concrete tools used by marriage therapists provide guidance in a supportive and encouraging setting and empower clients to restructure their thoughts and emotions. It helps the couple to work with each other, instead of on one another, helping each individual to find the person he or she is at the core level and to build a happy union.

If you are looking for a counsellor or psychologist who works with  couples you may want to search the directory to find a professional whose approach will suit you best.

Imago Relationship Therapy

Imago Relationship Therapy helps couples deal with conflicts. The approach has been developed by Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt and is supported by the work of many psychologists.  The insights have been adapted into dialogue-based exercises. The exercises are insightful and serve to remind each person what attracted them to eachother.

Imago helps the couple realize the purpose of the power struggle within their relation but how to acknowledge and respect the other in new and powerful ways.  

If you are looking for a therapist who offers Imago Therapy, please browse our list of practitioners below..

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Megan Hughes

M.A., Registered Psychology Assistant
*Now offering video and phone sessions.* *My practice is currently accepting new clients, to book please email/call: info@stillwatercounselling.com / 604-734-2779.* Megan Hughes has been counselling in... Read more