If your pattern is that of insecurity in your relationship, you may fall into the trap of blaming your partner for it. In reality, it could be your past experiences that are causing the issue. If someone has betrayed your trust or created an environment of insecurity, learning to be confident will take work. However, it is possible to do it as you take responsibility for your actions and emotions. 

Here are Some Tips on How to Gain More Confidence in Your Relationship

Know your worth

Building confidence in yourself is the first step to gaining confidence in your relationship or work. You need to practice self-love and believe in yourself. That is how you will know you deserve to find happiness in a healthy relationship. Even if something bad happens, you will know you are still worthy and can bounce back from hardship. Knowing your self-worth is, without a doubt, the first step to gaining confidence. 

Take better care of yourself

You need to love yourself and learn to be a better version of yourself. Identify your strengths and embrace them. Do not belittle them because those traits of your character will come to your aid when you start overcoming your weaknesses. Start exercising if you are not, and eat healthily. Embrace other positive habits, like meditation, journaling, yoga and finding more time for recreation and self-improvement. When you are happy, your relationship is also happy. 

Know what your needs are
When you know your needs, it is easier to know if your partner meets them and whether your relationship is fulfilling. It can sometimes be difficult to ask for what you need, especially when you lack confidence. But when you know your needs are not met, you will find the strength and courage to do so. That is how you will feel more confident in your relationship with your partner. 

Overcome your limiting beliefs

You cannot become a better version of yourself if you constantly hold yourself back. Limiting beliefs impacts relationships most negatively. For example, if you think you are undeserving of love or feel insecure, you will not build up your relationship with your partner but rather tear it down. You must work to identify such beliefs and overcome them. Only then can you feel more confident and fulfilled in a relationship. 

Let go of your past

If your past is still haunting you, whether due to mistakes or things you have experienced, you need to let go. These are all lessons you have had to go through, but they are not your whole story. They don’t need to shape your future and hold you back. Letting go of your past and accepting the things you have learned from it.

Be present in your relationship

If you are not present in your relationship but rather dwell in the past or worry about the future, you will never feel confident in the moment. The past is merely a memory, and the future does not exist. What matters most is the real moment, which you should always focus on. When you give your partner the gift of presence, you will never worry about your relationship. 

Following the aforementioned tips is a great way to start building yourself up when it comes to confidence in a relationship. It takes time, but it’s a self-improvement act that will benefit you and your partner. 

© Kate Mansfield Dating Coach

Conflict is normal in most relationships since we can’t always agree, no matter how well we get along. Sometimes we must challenge each other and change or learn from our mistakes, seeing other people’s points of view. When conflict becomes a constant in our relationships, arguments turn to anger, and there is no sense of resolution, it may be time to step back and analyse things from a different perspective.

Having an honest conversation about the other person and their actions is an excellent place to start. Unresolved tensions or resentment may drive the frequent conflict that wasn’t addressed. You can also benefit from support, so consider using hypnotherapy to give you a hand.

Hypnotherapy for Relationship Conflict

If you ever felt like you’ve had the same argument repeatedly, you likely already know the feeling. Sometimes, when we argue with people, we tend to repeat patterns. These patterns can come from the subconscious mind, sometimes that may have been experienced in our earlier life and something we are fighting with on the inside.

Hypnotherapy can give you a hand in getting to the root of the problem and the conflict itself. It can help you identify any behavioural patterns lurking in your subconscious mind that keep feeding the competition. If there are any, the hypnotherapist will suggest new ways of thinking and overcoming them. This is done when you are in a state of hypnosis, a deep relaxation, allowing your subconscious mind to be more open to positive suggestions. Hypnotherapy may also give you a hand in coping with conflict and managing the painful emotions in difficult relationships. You can build confidence and ask what you need, which is very important in all relationships. You can help your communication skills via hypnotherapy as well.

Dealing With Toxic Relationships

A toxic relationship has a negative impact on your psyche and health. This could be a friend who makes you feel bad, or you could be in an abusive relationship instead. Leaving these types of relationships always comes with many challenges; we find ourselves manipulated or suffering in self-esteem. We need to do more to walk away than we usually would.

After you leave a relationship like that, it may be a while before you feel normal again. You may find it challenging to rebuild your ability to trust or your confidence due to the trauma you experienced. Talking to a therapist or undergoing hypnotherapy can give you the help you need to repair the damage.

Hypnotherapy for Toxic Relationships

If you need help rebuilding your self-esteem, hypnotherapy can be there for you. Unhelpful and damaging patterns and behavioural elements can be addressed, letting you move on and reconnect with yourself and your individual needs. You can rediscover your inner strength and the ability to cope with the leftover emotional impact of the relationship. Through the help of hypnotherapy, you can encourage yourself to keep your head up high again. Since it’s often used to treat anxiety, hypnotherapy can help you find your inner safe place, allowing you to relieve the pain and manage the difficult memories yourself.

Moving on After a Break-Up

Break-ups can be a painful thing to experience, as most of us know. Whether the reason for your parting was mutual or not, the pain holds for quite a while once the relationship is over. For some, time and the support of close friends and family can help move on to the next chapter of life, but for others, that may not be the case. You can turn to hypnotherapy once more for a helping hand.

©Zoe Clews & Associates

Nowadays, intimate relationships do not last very long. And the reason is that such relationships require the two people to find shared ground, commit to each other and overcome challenges.

Below are some of the major challenges and problems that modern relationships face and how to solve them.

Communication
If two intimate partners can master communication, they will face fewer problems together. After all, honest and effective communication is the basis for relationship success. But many couples stop communicating the way they used to or experience more confrontation than usual. To improve that, couples need to figure out where their communication is breaking down. Couples must understand that the other person is not reading minds and that honesty is the only way forward. Communication is a two-way street that requires effort from both parties involved.

Having arguments
Self-expression often means having relevant debates with your partner. Successful couples know how to argue by following simple rules, such as never using profanity, name-calling, taking time to respond and always staying on point. However, if they grow into spiteful arguments, they serve no good purpose. Partners should make time to discuss issues before they develop into greater challenges. They must express concerns peacefully and maintain respect. A couples therapist can help with that.

Staying close is a challenge
Over time, relationships change. Things that seemed important before may not phase one partner or the other anymore. After all, relationship dynamics are not the only thing changing; both partners are also involved in change. All of this doesn’t mean the relationship will fail, but there is a need for both parties to make some effort.

Intimacy and sex
A lot of the problems in a relationship stem from sex. Partners need to be honest about what they want and encourage others to do the same. Partners should respect each other’s needs and desires. Making some changes will likely make both of them equally happy. If there is a need, a sex therapist can greatly improve this relationship aspect.

Infidelity
Affairs in a relationship do not happen spontaneously, and they take different forms, like emotional cheating. For a relationship to survive after one partner has had an affair, both must be fully honest about what happened and work to resolve any issues. Cheating can break the trust between partners, which takes a lot of effort to fix.

Money issues

Couples may argue over finances, especially during harder times. A couple faces quite an uncertain future if these problems still need to be resolved. Establishing who is responsible for what in the relationship regarding money is a good idea. Couples should work on their budgeting skills together to avoid problems.

Chores
Responsibilities at home may seem like a trivial issue to resolve, but in reality, many couples encounter large obstacles in that department. They feel resentful over who is dealing with what and become frustrated. To stay on top of that, the couple should keep all lines of communication open. Partners should let the other know they need help and discuss how best to accomplish tasks.

All these challenges are, without a doubt, big issues that couples can run into. It is most important to consider not the hardships but the good things that come out of a relationship and to strive to strengthen them.

© Kate Mansfield Dating Coach

There is always a bit of a risk when it comes to first dates. Maybe the person is not at all what they appeared to be when you texted, or they can outright ghost you. But you need to take a chance, to advance to a more meaningful relationship.

However, you should never ignore certain red flags that the other person might be sending. It is one thing to be hopeful and give them the benefit of the doubt. But closing your eyes to the outright bad things about them is not ideal. Here is what you should be mindful of:

• They are late and don’t tell you – one of the red flags is that you should be mindful of them being late to show up and they have not informed you. Normally, it is okay to be late, but if they don’t tell you about it, then they are not valuing your time. Now, that is hardly a reason to write them off completely. Maybe their phone died, or they have lost signal. But if they just don’t care, you should be careful.
  
  
• They have a control problem – always be on the lookout for signs of a big ego and a controlling nature. Controlling tendencies could show up as early as the first date, when they jokingly order something from the menu for you, without even asking about your opinion. This could be a way of testing your boundaries.
  
  
• They don’t stay present – if they are always on their phone, or they are always on the lookout to see who else is there, they aren’t present. If they don’t explain why they are on the phone or have their attention divided, you should consider it a red flag. They should devote attention to you and your persona, instead of anything else that can wait and is not urgent.
  
  
• They are rude to waiters and staff – if your first impression of them is that they are rude to the staff of the restaurant you are in, think about what life with them would be like. If they are not respectful to the person doing their job, they may not be respectful of you as well. Remember that people always put their best foot forward, so if rudeness shows then, it is a huge red flag.
  
  
• They are overly romantic – a little bit of romance can be a very nice addition to a first date. It can make you feel special. However, if they go overboard with it, then it is not a good sign. Showering you with affection, compliments and gifts could be nothing more than love-bombing, which aims to make you feel secure so that they can later start taking advantage of you.
  
  
• They are way too eager to move the date fast – some people can try to overwhelm you on the first date. That is when you need to pay the most attention. Listen to your gut feeling on whether things are advancing normally or way too fast.
  
  
• They talk about their ex a lot – it is okay to mention an ex-partner, but there is a limit to how much you can discuss the matter. If the person is obsessively bringing their ex, it could be an indication that they are not over them or that they have not overcome the past bitterness. It is especially worrying if they always blamed their ex. 

Paying more attention to such red flags is not only important but mandatory if you don’t want to have problems down the road.

© Kate Mansfield Dating Coach

Many people don’t like the idea of dating a partner who is 10+ years younger/older than them. But sometimes attraction just happens and a relationship is built upon a large age gap. There are certainly ways to make it work, according to many relationship coaches. Let’s find out some of them: 

• Accepting differences – everyone is different and unique – is what makes humans so fascinating. Being diverse and knowing that there is no one else out there like you are important. But it is also important to not get so caught up in differences because that can cause problems in relationships. This is especially the case in a relationship where partners have a big age gap. You should not be focused on changing anyone, but rather to bridge your differences and come closer together. 
  
  
• Agree to disagree – perhaps one of the most important things partners with big age differences should learn is to agree to disagree. Because they are of different generations, their views on a lot of aspects of life will be different. It is important to not focus on those disagreements, but instead to move forward despite them. Partners should openly discuss their opinions and be more open-minded toward their views. There is no reason not to be able to negotiate and accept the differences with a level of appreciation of each other’s views. 
  
  
• Crack up with a sense of humour – when you are in a relationship with a big age gap, you should always retain a certain sense of humour. Now and then someone you know will be asking whether the person you are with is your mom/dad. If you don’t assume a position of just brushing it off, you will question yourself. If you are in a good relationship and you know it, you should use it to strengthen your love even further. 
  
  
• Assurance to one another is important – in a relationship with a big age gap, both partners can feel insecure sometimes. One partner can worry that the other will lean towards something more within their age group, and this goes both ways. Again, partners should focus on what brings them together and why they chose each other in the first place. Reassuring each other is what glues the relationship together. 
  
  
• You will be at different places in life at times – with a big age difference and a long-term relationship, both of you will be at different places in your life. For example, when one is already thinking about retirement, the other’s career could just have taken off. This leads to different lifestyles and you both need to accept it. You have to be understanding toward one another, as these transitions happen. You need to be ready for them and communicate clearly where each of you stands on the matter. 
  
  
• Embrace the advantages of the age gap – who is to say that there are only negatives to work around in a relationship with a big age gap? Having a mature partner means you will never have to wonder about whether he is ready to commit or just leading you on. Besides, having a person with more life experience by your side is always a big plus. He can help you out of a difficult spot in life, or just provide what people of younger age cannot. 
  
  

Couples with a big age gap can make things work nicely for them. They just need to remember to communicate with openness and embrace their differences, to allow their connection to thrive. 

© Kate Mansfield Dating Coach