If you’re a couple, you’re bound to feel insecure about your relationship at times — but what if uncertainty and intense worry creep up and stay? This type of unrelenting rumination about your partner could indicate that you’re dealing with a troubling and disruptive anxiety around your relationship.
A tension is then introduced into the relationship that can erode its stability and the strength of the bond you have with your partner.
At In Touch Counseling, Janelle Adams, MA, LMFT, ATR, can help you address your relationship anxiety so you can feel more secure, connected, and enjoy a healthier dynamic with your partner. She offers you practical tools you can always turn to when anxious feelings crop up again. Being well equipped to handle relationship unease is transformative.
Being mindful of how your relationship is going, your communication style, and other relevant factors is important and good, but if that awareness turns into an unsettling obsession, it’s not healthy.
People who experience a good deal of relationship-focused anxiety are at risk for becoming entangled in — and limited by — unhealthy attachment patterns.
Though anxiety is a normal response at some points in our lives, it can permeate our lives so that it becomes debilitating. This might look like:
When anxiety spills over into your relationship, it can be harmful and drive a wedge between you and your partner.
There are several signs that point to an anxiety issue specifically related to your relationship with your partner, and their effects are harmful to a partnership, unfortunately.
If you find yourself becoming increasingly suspicious of your partner, this is a tip-off that you may be living with relationship anxiety. You may:
When thoughts like these spiral, it can be hard to maintain any objectivity at all, and you could find yourself interrogating your partner, picking fights, and engaging in other destructive behaviors.
As a response to feeling distrustful of your partner, you may try to limit their activities, interrogate them about what they’re doing or where they’re going, and feel jealous or possessive when they want to pursue a hobby, get together with a friend, or engage in an activity independently.
Trying to control your environment and what’s going to happen may seem like a way to manage stress in your relationship, but it’s actually destructive and can drive your partner away. These behaviors may make them feel micromanaged, unfairly scrutinized, and resentful.
When you’re troubled and feeling unhealthily agitated about your relationship with your partner, all sorts of doubts not only creep in — they hang around for far too long. You could wonder:
The list goes on when it comes to things you can dream up to be concerned about, and it’s a troubling emotional gerbil wheel to climb into.
We want to learn more about the roots of anxiety in general, but we do know that it’s associated with a blend of environmental factors, genetic considerations, and adverse experiences. It’s also linked to our fear response, which originates in our brains.
Fortunately, effective treatment is available if you suffer from relationship anxiety, and In Touch Counseling can help with both individual and couples counseling. Janelle believes in a holistic treatment approach and may recommend a combination of additional approaches that include:
Addressing your relationship anxiety will better regulate you emotionally, equip you with improved communication skills, and help connect you more meaningfully with your partner.
A more peaceful, secure relationship is within reach. To explore treatment at In Touch Counseling, please contact our Camas office at 360-205-5236 or book an appointment online.
