BEING SINGLE CAN BE HARD. THERAPY CAN HELP.
As almost anyone who has been single over the past 10 years can attest to, navigating today’s dating world can be anxiety provoking and exhausting. We are on our best behavior with the hope of making a long-term connection. Yet, for better or worse, we bring all of our emotional circumstances to the table, and then we have to manage the same for the new people we are meeting.
The added layers of online dating apps, social media, and matchmaking services create even more confusion. It all can be very stressful.
A data analytics company, Singles Reports, conducted a study in April 2022 of 500 18- to 24-year-olds. The study concluded that almost 80% experienced emotional burnout or fatigue with online dating.
How can you manage all of this anxiety? Specific dating therapy can help.
Therapy can help you explore dating and relationship patterns, cultivate intimacy, work to attract the right partner, and identify what is necessary to sustain healthy relationships. The foundation starts with understanding what you value in a partnership and setting expectations and boundaries for yourself and others.
Challenges that dating therapy can address include:
- Thoughts of inadequacy or fear of a negative outcome
- Avoidance of interpersonal interactions and/or intimacy
- Feelings of stress, awkwardness, or overwhelm around the dating process
- Physiological sensations such as sweating, increased heart rate, excessive talking, or exhaustion before or after a date
Some elements of dating therapy that can help you navigate the process:
- Identifying unhelpful habits of thinking
- Recognizing and limiting sabotaging behaviors
- Exploring upbringing and early relationship experiences that impact how you engage the development of romantic partnership
Whether you have a limited dating history or are coming out of a long-term relationship, both conscious and unconscious emotions, thoughts, and behaviors can impact your dating experiences. Dating therapy helps you develop the tools necessary to navigate the dynamic interactions of an intimate partnership.