The Benefits of Therapy When Leaving is Not an Option
There is a lot of focus on going to counselling to recover from the effects of narcissistic abuse or a toxic relationship once the relationship ends. But what if leaving your relationship can’t be an option right now?
5 Reasons Why Leaving May Not Be Possible
The following are some legitimate reasons why leaving is not always possible:
Culture – the pressure from extended family to work out differences in the marriage would make leaving a very isolating and shameful experience.
Co-parenting – you know co-parenting with your partner apart will be a nightmare compared to the current challenges of co-parenting together.
Time invested – it feels like too much time has passed to start over.
Financial – whatever your reasons are financially, you believe leaving will leave you worse off than staying.
Uncertainty – while the relationship can feel really bad sometimes, there can be good times too which leaves you feeling confused on what to do.
How Therapy Can Help in a Toxic Relationship
The decision to leave or stay in an abusive or toxic relationship is complex and highly personal. What are your reasons for staying in your challenging relationship that has not been listed here? You are thinking about counselling but are not sure if it will benefit you when there are no plans to leave your challenging relationship. Here are some of the ways therapy can help if you are in a toxic relationship:
Support and Validation
When you try to get support from family and friends, you feel invalidated most of the time and although well-intentioned, you get advice-giving focused on your leaving the relationship or minimizing your experience with the message to work things out. Therapy provides you a safe, non-judgmental space for you to process your thoughts and emotions with no agenda other than what you decide is best for yourself.
Space for yourself
In your relationship, there isn’t a lot of room for you. Your time, schedule, thoughts, feelings, decisions are highly focused on your partner and their potential reactions with little consideration for yourself. Therapy gives you that small block of time where you can reconnect with yourself to begin to relieve some of the symptoms you are experiencing as a result of your experiences in the relationship.
Developing Coping Strategies
The unpredictability in your relationship has you on edge and it is becoming more and more difficult to connect with your inner strength. Therapy can provide you the tools to begin to consider your self care, strategies in communication with a difficult person and holistic safety planning to build resilience with the focus on relationship preservation.
Speak With A Counsellor
Being in a relationship with a toxic person is never easy or straightforward. Getting counselling support with a counsellor who understands toxic relationships firsthand is a way for you to get the clarity and validation you are seeking without any pressure to change your current circumstances.
Reach out to connect with Christine Ellis (Registered Professional Counsellor, RPC-C) today because you don’t need to go through this alone.
