Couples Therapy Massachusetts: Tending Your Garden
Echinacea from my front garden at Couples Therapy Massachusetts
I love gardening. I truly, deeply love it. I can’t overstate this. I’ve been known to sneak off, during a BBQ to weed a friend’s flower bed once the small talk runs dry. But let’s be real, more likely than not, I am just weeding my friends garden in the middle of the party. I get some curious looks, but what can I say? It’s my happy place. As someone who offers Couples Therapy in Massachusetts, I often find that gardening gives me the same sense of calm and purpose I help couples cultivate in their relationships. I’ve even fantasized about gardening for my neighbors: “Hey, I have some perennials that need dividing, want them? I can even plant them for you. You don’t have to do a thing.”
But this summer, despite those fantasies, my own potted plants on the deck are looking a little sad. Between the relentless heat and my lack of energy to keep up with watering, they’re a bit crispy. Some may not recover no matter how much water I give it. And that’s hard to admit. So, I’m trying to give myself some grace, recognizing that this might just be a season where I don’t have the time, energy, or attention to devote to my plants because life is pulling me in so many directions.
The same is true for relationships.
Like gardens, relationships have seasons,
times of flourishing connection and times of drought. Energy waxes and wanes. Sometimes you’re fully invested, tending to your partner and your shared life with care. And sometimes, life takes over, and your attention is pulled elsewhere. This is not a bad thing. It is impossible to be totally cued in like you were when you were first dating. The key is to notice the ebbs and flows and to talk about it before too much neglect sets in.
When plants start to wilt, it is their sign that they need to be taken care of. Just like plants, your relationship has subtle signs that it needs tending too. If you wait too long, the signs get more pronouced. You want to water a relationship when the subtle signs are there.
As a therapist offering Couples Therapy in Massachusetts, I often see couples who have waited just a little too long to tend to their relationship. They come in feeling disconnected and unsure how things got to this point.
But there is hope. Sometimes the hardest part is simply starting the conversation.
Give each other grace. Celebrate the fact that you're talking about it at all, even if you don’t have the answers yet.
Relationships aren’t quick fixes.
They’re living, breathing entities with their own rhythms. They take time, attention, and patience.
If you and your partner can recognize the season you're in, whether it’s one of growth or dormancy, you can work together to nurture the relationship back to health. You can explore what each of you needs individually to grow and how that supports the relationship as a whole. Couples Therapy Massachusetts can help guide that process, offering space to reflect, reconnect, and rebuild.
Because even the driest garden can bloom again with the right care.
Ready to tend to your relationship?
If you and your partner are feeling disconnected or stuck, you don’t have to navigate it alone. Through Couples Therapy in Massachusetts, I help couples reconnect, communicate more effectively, and grow together through every season.
Reach out today to schedule a consultation and take the first step toward nurturing your relationship.
