Strengthening The Bond After Marital Conflict/Family Conflict

Like any normal family, conflict can also happen to yours. Conflict comes as an everyday part of family life. Start with two people with different background and personalities down to members with clashing views and beliefs. Throw in some interesting ideas coupled with eccentric attitudes, and then heat up with the stress and rigors of daily life. What do you get? You’re bound to have marital or family conflict.

Since conflict is an unavoidable ingredient of marriage and family life, it’s not a question of how to stop it from coming but of how you can handle it. When conflict arises, it can affect you and your family in two ways: togetherness or separation. You, your spouse and the entire family need to choose how to act when conflict arises.

When the Bond is Untied

Of all kinds of relationships, the family is the most emotionally packed. It involves the most intense level of attachment and commitment between spouses, between parents and children, or between brothers and sisters. The long period of daily contact has created a strong bond that can withstand external tensions. But, when conflicts emerge caused by factors emanating internally such as betrayal, serious illness, financial problem, etc. the positive emotional investment can suddenly become a negative emotion. Affection can be easily replaced with hate, anger, depression, grief, behavioral issues, and more. The bond that used to tie couples and other members can snap off into shattered pieces.

What You Can Do

Certainly, there are things you can do to stop the situation from getting worse. Whether you’re a parent, a spouse, or a teenage child, you can try to ease the tension by sitting down and talking about the conflict at hand with the other members of the family. If they see you initiating a mature step, it can be the start of a fruitful dialogue leading to a peaceful conflict resolution. But, if all the efforts to achieve resolution and get the family past the present conflict do not work, there may be a need to seek intervention from an expert.

Getting a Perspective outside the Family Circle

Getting a different perspective can help your family discover the root of conflict and see the entire picture from another angle, and thus give a clear path to resolution. At Carolina Counseling Services – Fayetteville, NC, we have family therapists who can work with you in identifying issues that are interfering with a strong positive family relationship. Call CCS now and request an appointment. We can’t wait to see you and your family happily tied together in stronger loving bond than before.

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