ONE TO ONE ONLINE
SESSIONS, phone and Skype sessions with email support and online
written and audio recordings.
REVIEW AND REBUILDING OF YOUR RELATIONSHIP
WITH
STEVEN WARREN
Research
has shown that one to one online sessions offer many advantages
in comparison with face to face sessions and are as good if not
more effective than face to face sessions. Let us explore why.
. . . .
1
- Working on line with support from email contact, written and
audio materials and telephone or Skype one to one sessions offers
several advantages. We work together independently of where you
live so you are able to benefit from my experience regardless
of travel and location.
You
can work at your own pace and for people who travel on business
then we can carry on our work without interruption.
2
- Costs and time given how we eliminate my overheads and reduce
cost and travel for you isn't an issue so you can work from the
comfort of your home and be totally focused without stress of
day time appointments and travel to and from a consulting room.
3
- Working online provides special advantages. Some people find
it easier to discuss issues without another person physically
present and feel comfortable in our work together from the very
first of our sessions.
4
- Working with material between our sessions online or downloaded
to your computer enables you to work at your OWN PACE and, as
the same time, feel more engaged and committed when you can read,
re-read and listen to materials focusing on key areas of our work
together. Then, with email support many people I have worked with
report how they found it so much easier to express lengthy or
complex ideas via writing them in an email knowing that they had
the time to finish the thought, review and with time and space
to hear back from me.
Also,
the very act of writing about one's experiences can itself provide
positive keys and our exchange of emails creates both a written
form to reflect back on as well as the process of journalling
ones thoughts for future reflection.
It
also provides me, as the counsellor, with time to reflect on thoughts,
feelings and other reactions to what has been written and exchanged.
During
my thirty five year career, specialising in loss, transition and
change, I have worked with people as they journey through the
natural, but crucial, stages of recovery following the end of
an important relationship.
You now have an opportunity to benefit from these powerful insights
in a series of sessions that focus on 'Rebuilding Your Relationship'
- and all from the comfort of your home.
During
our supportive work together, we will go through a multiple stage
process, tailor made to your specific needs. These one to one
sessions will help you break free of your old patterns in order
to build a solid foundation for a strong relationships.
My series 'Rebuilding Your Relationship' will assist you in creating
a new future, free from the destructive habits of your past.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Our
sessions will help you discover that your feelings are entirely
normal, natural and experienced by many people. You are not alone.
During our telephone sessions, you will discover the key stages
of what happens when we review our relationship as partners and
how to successfully navigate the alll important stages which need
to be addressed.
Let
us begin by taking a look at some of the stages which are important
as we move through our relationship as partners.
DENIAL
ANGER
SELF
CONCEPT
LOVE
TRUST
SEXUALITY
RESPONSIBILITY
FREEDOM
Watch
the online video recording - REPLACE with a new one
How
I work with you audio introduction and discussion with Steven
Warren
Virtual
online sessions from the comfort of your home. I
have flexible hours to help suit your schedule with some evening
and weekend appointments available. Get the information and one
one one support you need without the high emotional and financial
cost of ending a relationship or, if you relationship has ended,
then the personal and financial cost of lengthy separation.
Whether
you are single or separated or thinking about ending your relationship
and want to learn to have better relationships, I can provide
the tools for rebuilding a life of freedom to decide what you
want in your future life either together with your partner or
as a single person. .
Rebuilding When Your Relationship
Ends or is Ending
Embarking on rebuilding a relationship
is a powerful personal journey with one challenging step after
another. For most of us, it's a difficult journey - but the rewards
at the end are worth it!
Are you hurting? If you have recently ended or are considering
ending a relationship, you are. Those who appear not to hurt when
their relationships end have either already worked through a lot
of hurt, or have yet to feel the pain. So go ahead, acknowledge
that you're hurting. It's natural, expected, healthy, and even
okay to hurt. Pain is nature's way of telling us that something
in us needs to be healed, so let's get on with the healing.
There's an adjustment process after the ending of a relationship
- with a beginning, an end, and specific steps of learning along
the way. While you're feeling some of the pain, you're more anxious
to learn how to rebuild your future life. If you are like most
of us, you probably have had some destructive patterns of behaviour
for years - maybe since your childhood.
Change is hard work. While you were in a loving relationship you
might have been comfortable enough that you felt no need to change.
But now there is that pain. What do you do? Well, you can use
the pain as motivation to learn and to grow.
HOW
WE WORK TOGETHER
I
work with you in a number of ways:
(1)
via virtual online sessions either by phone or Skype. . .
which last for between one to one and a half hours
on a regular basis according to your needs which we establish
from our first exploratory online session (you will also complete
a detailed questionnaire before this session which will be sent
to you after you make initial contact.)
(2)
regular email support. . .
to continue progress and answer questions between
our sessions and a flexible session programme lasting from three
to six months or up to a year or more.
(3)
the focused use of online materials such
as written and audio recorded material
and video materials
OVERVIEW
AND SUMMARY
Here
on this page of my website are examples of each the crucial rebuilding
steps which are part of rebuilding a relationship . You can both
read the excerpts below and listen to a sample of the full audio
recordings to give you an overview of how we work in a more detailed
way. Once we begin working together you are sent intensive and
detailed written and audio materials to prepare for our sessions
together as we work through each stage.
There
are three key modules or important phases we will be working on
which I term:
Module
or Phase One - Recovery
Module or Phase Two - Adjustment
Module or Phase Three - Freedom
CURRENT
RELATIONSHIP REVIEW AND REBUILDING
If you are in a relationship but reviewing with
your partner if it should end and both of you wish to explore
rebuilding as an alternative then I will work with you both on
such a goal.
Now,
below on the remainder of this page of my website you review the
key stages of rebuilding which are relevant to moving through
the review and rebuilding of important elements which are crucially
relevant to you both at this time.
You
can explore these common and crucial states by following this
link to the dedicated pages here on my website.
Now
for a short summary of each of the various stages in rebuilding
to provide you with an overview.
.
MODULE
ONE RECOVERY RE-BUILDING STAGE - ONE
DENIAL
- THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!
Some people are ready for this first step whilst
others are still shocked by what has happened and cannot think
beyond the day before them. Many people in my groups told me
how they were waiting for their ex-partner to wake up, knock
on the door and tell them that it had all been a nasty dream.
It is natural for you to feel confused and disorientated with
even the simplest issue taking on untold demands and you are
feeling so unlike the person you used to be. Many people tell
me during this stage that :
" I feel dumfounded. I honestly thought this would never
happen to me. "
In this initial stage you may be punishing yourself with statements
like " If only I had listened more; if only I hadn't
been so angry "
if only...if only and the list goes on.
Through this relationship you have learned a great deal about
life and about yourself and such insights are a tangible part
of who you are now and your awareness. Time to explore and discuss
to create a different foundation for the future.
Naturally the adjustment process differs since dumpers feel
more guilt and dumpees feel more rejection.
Those who reach a point where they wish to end the relationship
often feel that there is no way forwards and this is the main
focus of our work - to begin engaging and LISTENING even if
we don't want to discuss or listen to what may be said and need
to be explored.
For the mutuals (those
who jointly decide to end the relationship) the adjustment process
is somewhat easier.
At this point in our work t I am going to present four key concepts
that are very closely intertwined but also I should point out
that it may get confusing at times. We are going to be viewing
the two main people in examing a relationship drama as the dumper
or the dumpee and we will be exploring the nature of two very
strong feelings which accompany the trauma of a relationship
possibly ending-
(1) Those
who walk around in shock, lying on the ground trying
to get their emotional wind back
(2) or those
walking around looking guilty and trying
not to look at those on the ground.
We
work through various responses and associated feelings so that
you can deal with and let go of these powerful feelings of guilt
and rejection to embrace the next, all important, rebuilding
stage.
Grief
is a very important part of the process when a relationship
is ending or has ended and so you need to work through these
emotions in order to move on fully to the next stage. Here,
initially, we will intellectually explore the stages of grief
so that you become emotionally aware of grief process to enable
you to do the grieving that you have been afraid to embrace
and experience. We will work through this challenging process
in our one to one sessions.
We are now working with one of the most difficult
and emotionally draining aspects of the rebuilding process for
whenever there is loss of something important in our lives we
suffer grief. For death there is a set ritual with funeral,
coffin and the acceptance that grieving is important. In ending
a relationship there are no prescribed rituals other than a
court hearing, the packing up of a home and informing friends
and family that you are now single and so grief is often not
acknowledged or accepted and that the death of a relationship
is also a powerful cause for us to grieve.
Many forms of loss happen when a relationship ends which many
people grieve over. There is the loss of a future; the sharing
of a future as a couple, of love, of partner and lover and the
social status of being a couple and then there is the loss of
role both personally and within society and all that that communicates
both to us and those around us. So for many people the loss
of the relationship is as important as the loss of the partner.
MODULE ONE
RECOVERY RE-BUILDING STAGE
- FIVE ANGER
HOW
COULD YOU TO THIS TO ME? !
You
will feel powerful rage and feeling anger is a natural, healthy
part of being human. However, anger is different from aggression
which is a destructive form of expressing anger.
It is not healthy to keep your anger locked up inside and neither
is it to expresses such anger aggressively. You can learn to
express both your anger about your relationship along with everyday
anger constructively.
Relationship anger is extreme rage, vindictiveness, and bitterness
which at times seems overpowering. It is a special kind of anger
that we usually have not experienced before and many of our
friends may not understand it either unless they have gone through
this experience themselves
You may try to keep this anger inside and not express it and
this can result in reactive depression because one cause of
such intense sadness is anger not being expressed. The person
wishing to leave the relationship may not express it because
he/she feels guilty and the person being left fears that they
partner will not explore changing their mind so both are 'nice'
for a while, except that they feel a lot of intensely sad thoughts
and feelings.
Anger is expressed in violent ways many times. Many people,
given the opportunity while they are angriest, will commit an
act of violence. It is crucial at such times to be able to restrain
ourselves and find more suitable methods of expressing these
feelings of rage and vindictiveness. Also we can find more constructive
uses of anger than destroying ourselves with depression and
psychosomatic problems (headaches, body tension, ulcers, and
the like.) Also, since the fires of anger can spread to other
rebuilding stages, if we can work our way through this block,
we will have much less trouble handling the other all important
parts on our rebuilding journey.
MODULE
ONE RECOVERY RE-BUILDING STAGE
- SEVEN SELF CONCEPT
FROM
FEELING BAD TO KNOWING I AM WORTHY
It
is OK to feel good about yourself. Here we explore how you can
learn to feel better about yourself and gain strength to help
you adjust better to a crisis in your life. As you successfully
adjust to this crisis, you will feel even better about yourself.
For some people it as if they are experiencing a personal identify
crisis, you may be seriously creating strains on your current
relationship now with friends and also in the future.
" When I was a child, my father continually
warned me about getting a 'big head' and becoming 'stuck on
myself. Then I went to church and learned that I had been born
sinful. At school it was big boys and those with the brains
who got all the attention. Finally I married so there would
be someone who thought I was worthwhile. It made me feel good
that someone cared. But then she started to point out my faults
to me. I finally reached a point where I began to believe I
was truly worthless. It was then that I decided to leave the
marriage." Carl
Your self concept is the skeleton which support
your personality. Here we can see that when the self-concept
becomes fractured, the whole personality begins to fragment.
Apparently we learn much of how we feel about ourselves at an
early age from the significant people around us including our
parents as well as siblings, relatives and teachers. This basic
level of self-concept is later influenced by our peers especially
during our impressionable teenage years. As an adult your partner
becomes a primary source of validation and feedback and greatly
affects your feelings of self-worth.
However for many, until they realise this all important fact,
the paradox is that when the physical separation comes and a
relationship is threatened with ending, self-concept hits an
all-time low. When the relationship fails the identity suffers.
MODULE
ONE RECOVERY RE-BUILDING STAGE
- EIGHT UMMMM MAYBE TAKE THIS OUT - EXPLORE>
>>>>>>>
WHERE
HAS EVERYBODY GONE ? ? ?
The
support you receive from friends is very important and can shorten
the time it takes to adjust to both your current and future
life transitions. Friends are more valuable than your former
partner at this point in the rebuilding process. You can develop
friends of both sexes without becoming romantically or sexually
involved with them however we need to realise how the ending
a relationship is threatening to many who are in a relationship
so some friends may slip away from you at this point in time.
" Maria and I had lots of friends and
family around all the time. Most weekends we'd have dinner parties
or go over to her sister's place, or meet locally with two or
three other couples. Since we split up, none of those people
ever call me or drop by. How come married people don't seem
to want us around when we are single? " Paul
When we go through the process of separation
some people insist on being on their own. They tend to withdraw
and feel uncomfortable being around people. Then you will notice
others who are continually clinging to other people as though
they cannot be alone for a single minute. Always walking arm
in arm they plan ahead so that they have do not have part of
the journey to walk by themselves.
There are four common reasons
why we separate from those friends we had when we were in a
relationship:
Number one
is that when we are ending a relationship you suddenly become
more eligible as a future partner and may be viewed as a possible
partner for one of the people in another relationship. So whereas
you were formerly invited to all the parties as a couple because
you were safe, now you are single you can be seen as a threat.
Suddenly people are looking at you as eligible and invitations
to certain friend's parties diminish accordingly.
The second reason we tend to loose friends
is that for some people those who have
ended their relationship create a very polarising situation
for others. Friends tend to support one or other partners thus
we tend to lose the friends who have sided with our former partner.
The third reason
is probably the most important: the fear
that 'If it can happen to you, it can happen to me' so the ending
of your relationship is very threatening to many relationships
around you and may form the basis why many such 'friends' appear
to slip away. Although you may be feeling rejected quite honestly
it is their problem and a reflection on them rather than on
you. So, instead of feeling rejected understand that the ending
of your relationship has caused them to feel very insecure.
The fourth aspect of friendship
which is important to understand while you are
going through ending your relationship and rebuilding is that
people in committed loving relationships are considered to be
part of mainstream, accepted couple orientated society and separated
people become part of the single subculture, a part of society
which is less acceptable to many. So to be pushed out of the
acceptable mainstream culture into the 'questionable' singles
subculture is a difficult adjustment.
Earlier
experiences are extremely influential in our life and the
attitudes and feelings we develop in relationships with
parents, family, friends and partners are bound to carry
over into new relationships. Some of these attitudes and
feelings are helpful in new relationships and others are
not.
As we have explored earlier common leftover problem, even
for adults, is an unresolved need to rebel against constraints
such as parental rules. Recognise the valuable leftovers
so you can keep and nourish them and then work at changing
those which simply get in the way.
For
example:
Thelma was talking
about how hard it was with her former partner.
" Sometimes he sounds like his father
when he criticises me and I just can't help but fly off the
handle at him. It's not fair for me to do that, but I can't
stop it. "
Peter reported that
he grew up with a father who was always criticising him to his
face but then would tell others how proud he was of his son.
He decided that he wanted to be praised to his face so in choosing
a partner he found a woman who he thought would give him lots
of praise. After a period of time in their relationship, he
realised that he had chosen a critical woman even though he
had tried not to. Peter clearly stated in our session:
" I don't understand what happened- I
never thought I'd choose someone like my father. "
Rick and Paul had
a very respectable committed relationship, with a lifestyle
very much like that of their parents. Suddenly Paul's behaviour
changed. He began to associate with a younger crowd, started
all kinds of activities which he had never tried before, and
took more time for himself, apart from the relationship. One
day he reported back to Rick that he felt :
"too
confined in the relationship and that he was going to have
to go off and get his head on straight."
So how much are you carrying in terms of leftovers from earlier
days? You may have learned to carry extra weight in your past
relationship or perhaps in your relationships with parents,
other siblings, friends or others while you grew up. Time to
unload those unneeded burdens. You may have thought that you
left all those hang-ups behind so maybe you didn't realise they
existed until a new relationship came along and then you were
forced to look into your back to see what you were still carrying
forward in your life.
Many
people need to relearn how to love in order to love more maturely.
Your capacity to love others is based on your capacity to love
yourself as I explore in The Power of Caring series. Learning
to love yourself is not selfish and conceited in fact it is
the most mentally healthy thing you can do. There are a number
of specific steps you can take to increase your self love and
connection with your true self.
Over the past thirty five years I have asked thousands of people
to do this exercise in my seminars as well as one to one sessions
and it normally proves a very difficult assignment for most
people to do. Many people say
'' I thought I knew what love is but I guess
I don't "
In fact many people feel inadequate about their
definition of love. Love is like a diamond and you can view
it from many different directions and there is no right or wrong
way of defining it. There is only the way you feel about love.
In our society many people have stereotyped love to be something
you do for somebody or to somebody. Very few people realise
that love is something that should be centred within you and
that the basis of loving others originates from the love you
have for yourself.
A somewhat cynical definition upon which many relationships
are based is:
" Love is the warm feeling that you get
toward somebody who meets your neurotic needs. "
Clearly this is a definition of neediness rather
than love.
Because we are not whole and complete people
but have emotional deficiencies we try to fill those emotional
deficits by 'loving' another person. What we lack in ourselves
we hope to find in the other person in other words many of us
are half people trying to love someone in order to become whole.
MODULE
THREE FREEDOM TO BE YOU RE-BUILDING STAGE
- ELEVEN
TRUST
- THE FOUNDATION OF HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
If
you say you can't trust a man or woman in a relationship then
you are saying more about yourself than about the man or woman.
Many relationships at this stage in the rebuilding process are
often attempts to heal wounds and many are transitional or short-term.
So at this stage by building a basic level of trust within yourself,
you can experience building a more satisfying emotionally closer
and intimate relationship.
At this stage in the recovery process you may
see people walk a distance from potential partners. They are
like a wild animal that when someone comes close, they run for
cover the minute you move toward them. These people talk about
relationships a great deal of the time, and they seem to want
to date and to be with potential partners. But as soon as someone
makes a move toward them, they run and shout 'stay away!' Clearly
they are still severely wounded by 'love'.
The
ending of a relationship process can be viewed in two major
steps. The first is learning to be a single person again ready
to face life alone with the issues of the past cleared away.
The second step is learning to love again after you have both
rebuilt your emotional strength and sustained a balanced relationship
with your real self so that you then ready to engage in a long
term committed relationship. Clearly, if you complete the first
step then step two will be easier.
Here at this stage we explore common types of relationships
to examine the basis of your current as well as other relationship
with parents, family and freindsso that you are clear what works
and what doesn't work for you.
MODULE
THREE FREEDOM TO BE YOU RE-BUILDING STAGE
- TWELVE
SEXUALITY
So you can discover what you believe rather than
what is expected of you. The great difference in attitudes is
that male and female sexuality appears to be a myth. But your
adjustment could be complicated by the major changes currently
taking place in female, male and same sex identities.
What was your attitude to those swinging single people when
you were in a relationship? Did you wonder if they were sexual
athletes that they were rumored to be? And did you fantasize
what it would be like to have a date with a different and exciting
person each night of the week?
There are three stages in this rebuilding block. Each of these
three stages of sexuality affects us personally a great deal
as we go through the adjustment process and we will explore
and discuss in detail during our one to one online sessions.
MODULE THREE FREEDOM TO BE
YOU RE-BUILDING STAGE
- THIRTEEN
RESPONSIBILITY
- RELATING AS ADULT TO ADULT
Most
committed relationships that face ending are out of balance
in terms of responsibility. One partner isover-responsible
and the other was under-responsible. When couples try to change
this system of interaction, it creates powerful feelings and
is very demanding both personally for each in the relationship
as well as a couple.
Feelings and attitudes within us keep us operating in the
under-responsible or over responsible style; one may have
to make some major changes to come from an adult balanced
relationship view. Equal responsibility relationships are
more flexible and able to adjust to stress and change and
therefore are more likely to last.
In this stage our sessions focus on the different forms of
relationship and ways of relating responsibility.
Here
you emphasize investment in your own personal growth rather
than in relationships.
Many people never learned to be single people before they
entered a committed relationship. They went from parental
homes to sharing a home with their partner, never even considering
that one could be happy living as a single person, and never
questioned the myth that once in a committed relationship
they would live a 'happy ever after life'.
Before the singleness stage, one may be looking for the 'lost
half.' but during this rebuilding stage one reaches the point
of comfort in going out alone. No longer is a 'date' necessary
to avoid embarrassment or feeling a failure. The quality of
relationships improves, since one now chooses who to go out
with spending time together sharing rather than needing. Other
people may be encountered and enjoyed for who they are, rather
than as a potential lifetime companions.
MODULE
THREE FREEDOM TO BE YOU RE-BUILDING
STAGE - FIFTEEN
FREEDOM
AND THE NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH ME
We
are now at the end of the rebuilding journey and we have arrived
at FREEDOM.
By working with me through the rebuilding blocks you can now
build more meaningful relationships for the future. Why? Because
you have the FREEDOM to choose to either be free and happy
as a single person or enter into another relationship. Freedom
is being who you really are and living your life to the full.
Here we look back over the process we have worked through
together and explore:
What
was the most enjoyable and interesting part of the rebuilding
process for you.
What was the most
difficult and challenging?
Now, what was the
most painful?
Now we review and identify the many changes
that have taken place within you and how you have reached
a place of embracing these shifts emotionally and how these
experiences have been communicated to your logical conscious
mind.
Many people have had considerable difficulty with one or more
of the rebuilding blocks after a relationship ends. As we
will have worked through the rebuilding process, overcoming
each stumbling blocks, then you are able to enter into another
relationship and make it more productive than the last one.
You will be able to meet your own needs and the needs of your
loved one(s) much better than in the past. Rebuilding not
only helps you to survive the crisis, but it also enhances
your future relationships.
Many
people ask me about how the rebuilding stages relate to children.
The process of adjustment for children is very similar to
that for adults. The rebuilding stages apply to the children
(as they may to other relatives such as grandparents, aunts,
uncles, and close friends).
Many parents get so involved in trying to help their children
work through the adjustment process that they neglect to meet
their own needs.
If you're a parent who is embarking on the Rebuilding journey,
I recommend that you learn to take care of yourself and work
through the adjustment process. You will find that your children
will tend to adjust more easily as a result. The nicest thing
you can do for your child is to get your own act together.
Children tend to get hung up in the same rebuilding stages
as their parents, so by making progress yourself, you will
be helping your children, too.
I
have created special written and audio recording materials
if you wish to work with me in regard to you and your children.
Skype:stevenpaulwarren
Please leave a message as to reason
for contact as well as your contact details. I will aim to
get back to you within one working day.