Conflict in Your Relationships

We are all unique individuals with our own upbringing and backgrounds. Through our personal experiences we develop an "internal working model" on how to address conflict over time in our relationships. We learn at a very young age whether to avoid or approach conflict because of these experiences. Our approach on managing conflict is therefore a set of "learned behaviors" that can either help or create a clash with our significant others, friends, and family. We are not often given a choice on what experiences we are given, but we do have a choice on how to approach future conflict and problems in our relationships. The problem, however, is that we can often revert back to our past habits that can be frustrating for our loved ones and ourselves. Nonetheless, it is possible to work on building newer and more effective "learned behaviors."

I am here to tell you that while conflict can be uncomfortable it is completely natural and inevitable in all of our relationships. Many of us often fear conflict because of the associations that come with it: arguments, fighting, feelings of anger and frustration and overall negative past experiences. However, conflicts in a relationships can also have many positives that outweigh the negative, such as:

· Coming to a new understanding

· Learning to appreciate the essence of the other side

· Building a sense of respect for one another

· Building and maintaining a close bond

Are you and/or someone you love struggling with conflict in the context of a relationship? Are there conflicts that continue to feel unresolved? Have you been trying to find ways to communicate and continue to lose one another?

The issue with conflict does not lie in the conflict itself, but in the way we manage the conflict with our loved ones. Healthy relationships must have conflict and there is a way for your relationship to survive and recover from them.

If you’d like to discuss your situation or explore treatment options, please contact Dr. Cecily Portillo today to schedule a phone consultation at 917-843-1296.

---