Psychology Today: 5 Proven Therapy Techniques to Improve Relationships

Strong, loving, and healthy relationships require a lot of work. Sure, you love each other, respect each other, and want to spend time together, but there’s much to be analyzed when you’re having issues. Being open and honest with each other, and using emotions as genuine information to guide how you function together are important tools in a relationship. Here are five techniques to benefit your romantic relationship.

1. Interrupt the Cycle of Negativity

More often than not, couples have problems because they fall into a cycle that breeds negativity in some way. For example, a wife might come home stressed and say something snippy to her husband. This puts him in a bad mood, and makes him not want to talk about his day. The wife, in turn, feels unwanted and annoying, and worries that she and her husband can’t find common ground anymore.

But when we become aware of such a cycle, we can interrupt it. For example, maybe the wife can come home and go for a 10-minute walk to process her day, and not unleash what happened at the office on her husband.

Or, maybe the husband could practice being extremely empathetic when his wife first gets home, since he has now recognized that this is a difficult transition for her, and she has a hard time dealing with the stress of her job as she tries to unwind. Identifying this cycle is half the battle to understanding your own relationship problems.

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