Healthy relationships allow both unique individuals to feel supported and connected while interacting with each other interdependently. Healthy communication and healthy boundaries are two major components that contribute to healthy relationships. Both people in the relationship decide what is healthy and what is not. If something doesn’t feel right, you should be able to express and discuss this with your partner. Dealing constructively with conflict, listening and hearing each other; these skills help strengthen the relationship. Sometimes partners do not express what they really want or feel until they find themselves in therapy. Some people come to therapy to get an issue “out on the table” and begin dealing with it with professional support for both. Saying “no” when you mean “no” sets clear boundaries, helps define the relationship, who you are, and who the other person is. Saying “yes” when you mean “no” does not contribute to a healthy relationship. Your consent can be taken back or changed at any time, and there is no such thing as implied consent in healthy relationships. Unhealthy communication can lead to conflict…and a mountain of unresolved conflict and resentments over time can destroy the relationship and create abusiveness. Whether you are struggling in a relationship, wanting to learn how to be healthier in your new relationship, or ending a relationship and wanting to work on yourself, doing relationship work is a “gift you give yourself and others”. Some clients come to therapy to do some deeper work on their relationship with “themselves” to make it healthier. Doing relationship work produces more healthy enriching relationships. Relationship work includes communication, boundaries, openness, honesty, trust, unconditional love and intimacy as integral components of the relationship with healthy boundaries and healthy communication. Abuse (perpetrated by either a female or male) is never acceptable in a relationship and help and safety should be sought immediately.