Ain't No Sunshine Anymore - 9 of the biggest relationship problems

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In this episode, we're exploring nine of the most commonly rated relationship issues that people experience and the steps you can take to address these issues. You may experience one or more of these issues at different times in your relationship. We'll explore these issues and also strategies to help you overcome them.

The biggest challenges people tend to face in relationships that we discuss in this episode are:

1. Lack of effort/Taking the partner for granted: your enthusiasm for your partner has faded over a period of time, other demands take over and you have become more distant from each other. You don't regularly check in with each other and there is a lack of communication.

2. Emotional Fusion: You are too enmeshed with each other and struggle to have a sense of separateness and independence in your relationship.

3. Stress: one or both of you are struggling with the demands of work, childcare or other chores that need doing. You are each wrapped up in trying to manage this stress and lack capacity to focus on the needs of your partner and/or the relationship.

4. Overwhelmed by partner's demands: you may struggle to meet your partner's demands and experience them as too critical. You feel that your partner is constantly nagging and/or requiring too much attention.

5. Parenting related issues: you may struggle to adjust to the new reality of becoming first time parents and the associated tasks. Or you may have different ideas to do with parenting, e.g. with regards to discipline or education.

6. Sexual desire/physical contact: you may have different ideas about the frequency or nature of your sexual and physical intimacy. One of you may want more, the other less sexual/physical contact.

7. Wider family relationships: you may struggle with your partner's relationship with parents or siblings. There may be a sense that their influence is not a positive one and you may not like them very much. Conversely you may find it difficult that your partner does not like your family. There may be too much or too little contact.

8. Addiction problems:  one or both partners struggle with addictions issues, e.g. alcohol, drugs or porn addiction. In addition to the dependency of the partner with the addiction issue, there is often a need to consider co-dependency related issues of the other partner.

9. Infidelity: one or both partners is having an affair. Unless there is an agreement by both partners that it's ok to not be monogamous, infidelity seriously shakes up a relationship and often leads to separation. It is considered a serious boundary violation. Infidelity can be survived by the couple but requires careful consideration.

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