Rebuilding Trust

Rebuilding Trust                                                                   

Emotional safety is a vital aspect of any healthy relationship, but it can only be accomplished with trust. If your trust and emotional safety have been compromised, it can be difficult to rebuild, but it is not impossible. Here at the Relationship Center of Albuquerque, we can help you and your partner heal after betrayal and restore the trust to your relationship.

 

When rebuilding trust in a relationship, it is important for partners to acknowledge the impact of the hurt that has occurred. If partners don’t understand how they’ve hurt each other, they cannot regain trust in one another. Partners must also understand why betrayal occurred in order to move on and not repeat the hurt.

 

During the trust-rebuilding process, it is also important not to do more damage to the relationship. This means not punishing your partner, which may make you feel better in the moment but does not help you heal or rebuild trust.

 

Rebuilding trust begins with open, honest and respectful communication on a regular basis. Couples must remember to keep promises and to follow through with commitments with each other. If you or your partner is experiencing emotional pain, it should be expressed without blaming.

 

These are only a few of the tools used to restore trust to a relationship. It takes time and patience, but with counseling you can rebuild your relationship. We can help at the Relationship Center of Albuquerque. Dr. Marji Prefontaine has practiced marriage and family therapy for more than three decades and is committed to helping couples like you develop a more positive relationship. 

Panic Attacks

Panic Attacks

Panic attacks are often associated with anxiety disorders, which are the most common mental health disorder to have. More than 25 million people in the United States alone suffer from anxiety, many of whom also get panic attacks.

 

A panic attack may be brought on by a trigger, such as an extremely stressful situation, though others are completely random with no warning. The general characteristics for panic attacks are shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, shaking and trembling, nausea, sweating, chest pain, and dizziness.

 

Many people believe they are experiencing a heart attack, since many of the symptoms are similar.

Here at the Relationship Center of Albuquerque, we treat panic attacks to help our patients experience less of them, as well as treat their anxiety disorder. Panic can affect their lives in many ways, often keeping them from going through normal daily activities like leaving the house, going to work, or attending social functions.

 

Some of the common treatments provided by our therapist Dr. Marji Prefontaine for panic attacks include cognitive behavioral therapy and counseling to help reduce general anxiety from the patient’s life, find the cause of the anxiety, and offer methods of reducing the severity of panic attacks.

Call us at 505-821-1948 to learn more about your treatment options.

Addictions

Addictions

Dr. Marji Prefontaine provides therapy and counseling for many different reasons here at the Relationship Center of Albuquerque including addictions. Someone can become addicted to nearly anything, though alcohol, drugs, smoking, shopping, sex, and gambling are the most common. An addiction is identified as having a compulsive need to have a certain thing or substance at all times, often affecting the person’s life as a result of the need for it.

 

The following criteria is used to determine whether or not a patient is struggling with an addiction:

 

1. Building a tolerance where the substance increases gradually over time.

2. Experiencing withdrawal symptoms without the addiction, including physical, emotional and psychological changes.

3. Feeling lack of control over the substance or situation.

4. Dealing with negative consequences as a result of the addiction, and continuing to use the substance.

5. Putting off social or other activities for the addiction.

6. Spending a good deal of time or energy on the addiction.

7. Having a desire to cut back but being unable to on their own.

 

If you are showing any of these signs of having an addiction, the sooner you get help, the better off you will be. Visit the Relationship Center of Albuquerque in Albuquerque, NM to learn more about addiction treatment options.