“Family over everything!”, “You only get one mother”, “Honor thy mother and thy father”….I could go on and on. Family relationships are very important and is the foundation of our relationship blueprint. However, some of these cultural tropes may leave us feeling like an outcast if some of our family relationships are challenging, contentious and the source of our anguish. Challenging family relationships can have a huge impact on other important relationships in our lives, such as your marriage or romantic partnerships, relationships with peers, co-working relationships, and the most important relationship…the relationship you have with yourself. Working with a licensed therapist to explore relationships patterns in your family of origin can help you cultivate skills to increase self awareness, emotional intelligence, emotional regulation and improve communication skills so you can not only improve relationships with family members, but also improve how you relate to others and yourself.