What Is Interpersonal and Relational Conflict, and How Does It Show Up?

Interpersonal conflict isn’t just about arguments. It’s about the patterns that keep showing up in your relationships, at work, with friends, romantic partners, or even within your family.

Relational conflict can look like:

  • Repeated misunderstandings or miscommunication

  • Feeling unheard, dismissed, or taken for granted

  • Difficulty expressing needs without guilt or fear

  • Conflict avoidance followed by resentment

  • Explosive arguments after bottling things up

  • Struggles with boundaries, people-pleasing, or over-giving

  • Feeling stuck in the same relationship dynamics with different people

Often, the conflict isn’t about the current situation; it’s about how you’ve learned to relate to others.

How Therapy Helps with Interpersonal and Relational Conflict

Therapy helps you step back from reactive cycles and gain insight into how you show up in relationships.

In therapy, we work to:

  • Identify recurring relational patterns and triggers

  • Improve communication and emotional expression

  • Build confidence in setting and maintaining boundaries

  • Reduce defensiveness, avoidance, and reactivity

  • Strengthen emotional awareness and self-regulation

  • Create healthier, more balanced relationships

Therapy is not about blaming others or yourself, it’s about understanding your role in relational dynamics and learning new ways of connecting.

What Interventions Might Be Used?

Relational work is practical, reflective, and tailored to your lived experiences.

Depending on your needs, therapy may include:

  • Communication and assertiveness skill-building

  • Exploration of attachment styles and relational needs

  • Emotion-focused interventions to process unmet needs

  • Boundary-setting and values clarification

  • Role-playing difficult conversations

  • Nervous system regulation to reduce conflict reactivity

These tools help you respond rather than react in your relationships.

How can I book a session?

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If you’d rather speak with someone directly, reach out by phone or email, and we’ll help you book your initial session.

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