Relationship Puzzle
A Piece
No Wonder We Have Differences in our Relationship
Inevitably, all of us experience a level of disagreement/conflict in our intimate partner relationship. If our belief is that healthy relationships are those where there is little to no conflict, then you are in for a big surprise. Think about the differences that each of us bring into a relationship. The sheer number of different relationship experiences that shape our feelings and beliefs about relationships, creates ample opportunity for differences. We come from different families of origin with different relationship culture and differences in connection with extended family. As we expand our connections outside our family of origin, we learn and internalize lessons learned from these relationships. We begin our romantic forays with varying degress of success. We move from the teen years into life outside our families of origin. This may include work relationships and connections made in college The better we are in navigating/talking about these differences, the more satisfied we feel in our connection.
In the beginning there were
Our family of origin relationships
Differences-what we bring
We are influenced by what we learn in our families of origin-definition and what we experience
By
Each of us was born into a family of expectations, moral guidance, relationship ideas and expectations
Common areas of conflict
Money/parenting/blended families/in laws/intimacy/health issues/unhealthy habits of a partner/
The process for dealing with these differences