High-conflict doesn’t always mean shouting matches or broken plates (though sometimes it can get that heated). More often, it’s the quieter but relentless patterns that leave both of you drained. Maybe it’s arguments that flare up over small things but quickly spiral into something bigger. Maybe it’s the same issue resurfacing again and again, no matter how many times you’ve tried to resolve it. For some couples, it looks like one person shutting down while the other grows louder and more insistent. For others, it’s the constant tug-of-war between defensiveness, blame, or stonewalling that makes even simple conversations feel impossible. What’s consistent is the feeling of being stuck: wanting connection but getting pulled into the same exhausting cycle.
Understand what’s really underneath the conflict and not just what’s being said in the heat of the moment. By slowing down and focusing on emotions and attachment needs, you can finally get to the heart of what’s driving the arguments.
High conflict doesn’t usually come from indifference- it comes from passion colliding with old wounds. Every slammed door or sharp word often masks something vulnerable: fear of being abandoned, fear of being controlled, fear of not being enough. In therapy, we slow down and look beneath the fight, so you can reconnect with the love that’s been there all along.
• Learning to recognize when you or your partner are dysregulated and what helps
• Building skills to soothe one another in moments of intensity rather than escalate or withdraw
• Creating rituals of connection and safety, especially during or after conflict
• Shifting the emotional climate of your relationship from “fight or flight” to grounded and responsive
• Shifting from blame to shared responsibility without getting stuck in shame or defensiveness
• Slowing down enough to actually feel each other again
• Reclaiming the tenderness, humor, and emotional safety that may have been lost
• Strengthening your capacity for vulnerability and reflection
• Repairing in a way that actually lands, so it’s felt and received