Most of us yearn to be able to be fully intimate with a beloved partner – to know and be known without pretense and without shame or embarrassment. But the precious moments of true intimacy are often fleeting. So many things get in the way; children, work, health issues, all the pressures of just staying alive. Sometimes too other things come up, things like past traumas (especially around sexual issues), or previous relationships, or lack of experience, or just plain fear. The fear of intimacy can paralyse us just when we most want to be close.

It’s often our most intimate relationships which cause us the most difficulty because when we are vulnerable to another person we are also most vulnerable to our own pain. Counseling can help heal old wounds and enable us to find new ways of relating, new ways of being ourselves, new ways of loving. True intimacy keeps us growing; growing in a way which increases our connection not just with our partner but with all those around us.