Relationships at Christmas can feel more intense than at any other time of year. While the season is often portrayed as joyful and connecting, many couples experience increased relationship stress, conflict and emotional overwhelm. If you find that Christmas highlights tension rather than closeness, you are not failing — you are responding to a uniquely pressured time of year. Understanding why relationships struggle at Christmas can help you manage the season with more compa

Wondering whether couples counselling or relationship therapy  is right for you or your partner is extremely common. Many people delay seeking support because they are unsure their problems are “serious enough”, or because one partner feels hesitant about therapy. In reality, relationship psychotherapy and couples counselling  are not only for relationships in crisis. They are often most effective when people feel uncertain, stuck, or emotionally disconnected. At Tandem Thera

In recent years, attachment language has exploded across social media: Anxious. Avoidant. Fearful avoidant. Dismissive avoidant. These terms are now everywhere - except in the place they were originally meant to live: inside compassion, curiosity and the nervous system . As a relationship therapist, I see every day how easily these labels can be misused, and how far they’ve drifted from their purpose. Attachment styles were designed to help us connect, not disconnect. They we

We often confuse the rush of chemistry with the comfort of safety. At first, they can feel identical. Your heart races. Thoughts of them take over your mind. You feel alive in a way you haven’t felt in years. It’s intoxicating. You call it chemistry. You tell yourself, “This is love.” But chemistry isn’t always true connection. Sometimes, it’s simply recognition. Your nervous system identifies a familiar energy - not necessarily because it’s healthy, but because it feels like