Relationship Management

Jan 12

Why Relationship Struggles Are So Common

Relationships are one of the most meaningful—and challenging—parts of life. They ask us to stay emotionally present, communicate clearly, tolerate vulnerability, and navigate differences over time. Even strong relationships can become strained under stress, life transitions, or unresolved emotional patterns.

Many people seek relationship therapy not because they are failing, but because something important feels stuck. Repeating arguments, emotional distance, resentment, or shutdown are often signs that key needs are not being met or understood.

At Lodestone Psychology, we approach relationship challenges with curiosity and respect. Our work focuses on understanding what is happening beneath the surface rather than assigning blame.

Common Reasons People Seek Relationship Therapy

Clients seek relationship therapy for a wide range of concerns, including:

Ongoing conflict or arguments that never feel resolved
Communication breakdowns or feeling unheard
Emotional distance, withdrawal, or loss of intimacy
Trust concerns, including infidelity or betrayal
Navigating separation, co-parenting, or blended families
Differences in values, goals, or expectations
Stress related to parenting, illness, or career demands

Relationship distress often builds gradually. Therapy provides space to slow down patterns before they become entrenched.

Attachment, Emotions, and Patterns

Our relational patterns are shaped by early attachment experiences, past relationships, and how we learned to manage emotions. When stress or disconnection occurs, many couples fall into predictable cycles—pursue and withdraw, criticize and defend, or shut down entirely.

Relationship therapy helps identify these cycles and the underlying emotions driving them. When partners begin to understand what each other is protecting or longing for, new responses become possible.

Our Therapeutic Approach

Relationship therapy at Lodestone Psychology is collaborative and non-judgmental. We work with individuals and couples to build awareness, communication skills, and emotional safety.

Therapy may focus on:

Identifying recurring relational patterns
Improving communication and conflict repair
Understanding attachment needs and emotional triggers
Rebuilding trust and safety
Clarifying boundaries and expectations
Supporting relationship transitions and decisions

We support monogamous and non-traditional relationship structures, including ethically non-monogamous relationships.

Many Calgary clients juggle demanding work schedules, family responsibilities, and financial pressures that place strain on relationships. Therapy offers a structured, supportive space to reconnect and address issues intentionally.

Both in-person and virtual relationship therapy options are available.

Relationships don’t improve through effort alone—understanding and support matter. Therapy can help you move forward with clarity and care.

Featured

Tracy Firth, MA, CCC, Provisional Psychologist

For many of the people who find their way to Tracy, life looks fine on the surface but doesn’t feel that way inside. They’re holding it together at work, managing too many responsibilities, or trying to make sense of who they are after an ADHD diagnosis that explains a lot but also stirs up grief. What they want most is to feel like themselves again.

In therapy, Tracy offers a calm, grounded space to slow down and make sense of what’s been building up. Clients describe her as honest, curious, and quietly funny. Humour helps people relax, but she’s not afraid to name the hard things. Tracy isn’t one to gloss over the hard stuff; she believes in the kind of hope that grows from understanding yourself clearly, not from pretending everything is okay.

Jodey Sharman, BSc OT, MA, Registered Psychologist

Jodey, is a Registered Psychologist in Calgary with over 35 years of experience in healthcare and rehabilitation. She works with adults of all ages coping with Trauma, anxiety, depression, stress, grief, and relationship difficulties. Many of her clients are professionals, in high stress occupations, and are health care providers and therapists.

Jacqulynn Joy (Jake) Mulyk, MA, CCC

Jake’s approach is creative and deeply trauma-informed. She often integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), trauma treatment, and expressive arts to help clients rebuild inner safety and emotional regulation. Before becoming a therapist, she spent two decades as a professional artist, and that creative lens continues to shape how she helps people explore meaning, story, and identity through their own healing process.

Rachel Clare, MSW, RSW

Rachel Clare, MSW, RSW, is a Calgary-based Registered Social Worker with more than 20 years of counselling experience. She works primarily with adults, often high-achieving Gen X and Millennial women, who are navigating anxiety, burnout, grief, or the lasting impacts of trauma. Her work often supports clients recovering from religious or relational wounds, managing chronic illness or ADHD, and rebuilding steadiness after prolonged stress.

Aaron Esler, MACP, CCC, RCC

Known for his calm steadiness and a quick sense of humor, Aaron helps clients feel at ease from their very first session. He approaches therapy as a collaborative process, using warmth and curiosity to help clients explore what’s been hard without judgment or pressure. His work blends Cognitive and Dialectical Behaviour Therapies (CBT and DBT) with mindfulness and psychoeducation, guiding people to recognize unhelpful patterns, reframe beliefs, and build practical tools for lasting change. He believes people already have what they need to heal — therapy simply creates the space and safety to rediscover it.

Mariah Hunt, BKin, MACP, CCC

Mariah believes that therapy begins with safety and connection. She creates a space where clients can exhale, feel seen, and start to come home to themselves, whether that means navigating the overwhelm of anxiety, finding steadiness in postpartum life, or exploring the questions of early adulthood. Her calm and compassionate presence helps people slow down enough to discover what truly matters to them.

Danica Heidebrecht, MEd, Registered Psychologist

Danica Heidebrecht is a Registered Psychologist (M.Ed.) who believes therapy is first and foremost about connection. For nearly two decades, she has supported adults navigating anxiety, shame, stress, trauma, and relationship challenges.

Danica’s presence is warm, steady, and collaborative. She draws from trauma-informed, somatic, mindfulness, and attachment-based approaches to help clients feel safer in their bodies, more at ease in their emotions, and more connected in their relationships.

Kristen Paliwoda, MACP, Registered Psychologist

Kristen Paliwoda offers a gentle, grounding presence that helps clients feel understood and supported from the moment they meet her. She works primarily with women navigating life transitions — from the growing pains of early adulthood to the changing identity that often accompanies motherhood. Her approach is warm, collaborative, and guided by curiosity. She integrates EMDR, CBT, and mindfulness-based practices, creating a process that feels both steady and flexible — never rushed, never one-size-fits-all.

Jennifer Straub, MSW, RCSW

Jennifer meets clients in the places where life feels heavy—grief that lingers, trauma that resurfaces, and transitions that leave people uncertain of their next step. Her work is grounded in the belief that healing begins when people feel safe enough to be seen, heard, and understood.

As a Registered Clinical Social Worker (RCSW) with more than 20 years of experience, she supports adults navigating complex and developmental trauma, anxiety, depression, and loss through a calm, collaborative, and relational approach.

Darren Wood

Relationship Management

Why Relationship Struggles Are So Common

Common Reasons People Seek Relationship Therapy

Attachment, Emotions, and Patterns

Our Therapeutic Approach

In-Person Locations

Availability

On-Line Appointments

Contact

Get Support

Relationship Management

Why Relationship Struggles Are So Common

Common Reasons People Seek Relationship Therapy

Attachment, Emotions, and Patterns

Our Therapeutic Approach

Self-Esteem

Men’s Issues

In-Person Locations

Availability

On-Line Appointments

Contact

Get Support