Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us found ourselves at home more than ever before. With remote work, school cancellations, and limited safe activities available outside of the home, many couples spent more time together than they had at any point in their relationship – a situation that often led to conflict.
As restrictions across NYC ease and people begin to adjust back to a more socially active way of life, it is not uncommon for couples to still be affected by the challenges and frustrations they struggled with during the last two years. For those that are still trying to heal from these struggles, it may help to consider a local couples counselor to help heal the relationship and guide you and your partner to a better future.
Overcoming 2+ Years of COVID Stress
One of the challenges of living through the shared trauma caused by the pandemic is that the feelings and experiences we had over the past two years does not suddenly go away, even if life starts to go back to normal. If you found yourself hurt back in 2020, that hurt can still be with you now. If you found yourself overwhelmed, frustrated, or upset, those same emotions can still stay with you.
As couples counselors in Brooklyn Heights, our team here at Flourish Psychology recognizes that, no matter how strong a couple you have been in the past, the pandemic thrust many of us into a situation that was completely unfamiliar. One where couples were:
- Navigating full time parenthood while children tried remote learning.
- Struggling with finances because of COVID-19 layoffs.
- Adjusting to remote work and trying to operate professionally in a shared family space.
- Faced with limited to no social interaction or support outside of the immediate family.
No matter how much we love our partner, and no matter how much we want to spend time with them, the pandemic was a traumatic event that threw couples far outside of their comfort zone and into a place with more stress, less personal space/time, and no way to take a break to process it all.
That is a situation that is challenging for any relationship.
If you walk around Brooklyn today, you’ll see that most of the borough is back to normal. But the fights, the resentments, and the struggles that you faced as a couple may not go away on their own. If you find that you’ve had trouble overcoming the past few years of marital stress brought on by COVID-19, couples counseling can help.
Why Consider Couples Counseling?
Healthy communication is a challenge for many couples, and that challenge was often worsened by the limited amount of personal space and alone time that we had during the pandemic. Many couples found themselves unable to have productive discussions about their concerns and needs. Over time, those arguments and repressed feelings start to bubble into long term resentment and frustration.
Couples counseling provides a safe, non-judgmental space for each partner to start talking openly about these struggles. Guided by experienced Brooklyn couples counselors – like those here at Flourish Psychology – each partner has an opportunity to feel heard and supported while your therapists provide guidance to help you both heal.
With couples counseling, each partner has something that they often didn’t have during the pandemic:
- An advocate.
- A mediator.
- A listener.
Our role as Brooklyn couples counselors is to let both partners be heard and help improve communication both now and into the future so that any other challenges you face as a couple can be addressed early.
For those that feel they are still holding on to some of the emotions and resentments they felt during the pandemic, couples counseling creates a comfortable space for you to share those feelings and work through them; finally giving you an opportunity to heal and grow. Flourish Psychology also provides individual therapy for anyone that feels they have their own personal challenges to work through as well.
Taking the Step Towards Rebuilding Your Relationship – Flourish Psychology
Here in New York City, we have dealt with an unimaginable amount of trauma and loss as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We still are. This experience has also strained many of our relationships, leading to difficulties that are often present still today.
If you and your partner still need help to heal from the past two years, or you’d simply like to work on growing your relationship and becoming stronger as a couple, contact Flourish Psychology today to schedule an appointment. We have both in person (Brooklyn Heights) and remote couples counseling available.