When Relationships Keep Feeling Hard
Maybe you notice the same thing happening again and again. You worry people will leave, so you hold on tighter. Or you pull away when someone gets close, even when part of you wants connection. Small conflicts feel huge, and afterwards you replay every word.
These patterns can show up with partners, family, friends, and coworkers. They're exhausting, and it's easy to start believing something is wrong with you. Often, the way we connect with others was shaped by early relationships and past experiences, including trauma. Those patterns and behaviours can also change with the right approach.
Individual relationship counselling in Edmonton at Sera Psychology gives you space to explore what's happening in your relationships at your own pace.
What Is Attachment-Based Therapy?
Attachment theory looks at how our earliest relationships shape the way we seek closeness, handle conflict, and respond to distance as adults. Some people lean toward anxious patterns, like needing reassurance or fearing rejection. Others lean toward avoidant patterns, like shutting down or keeping people at arm's length. Many people notice a mix of both.
Attachment-based therapy helps you understand where your patterns come from and how they show up today. This is individual counselling, so you don't need a partner to attend. The focus is on you, your history, and how you want to show up in your relationships going forward.
How Serena Supports Relationship and Attachment Concerns
Sessions are led by Serena Boyaci, a Registered Psychologist (#6915) with the College of Alberta Psychologists.
Serena's approach to therapy is built on compassion, authenticity, and curiosity. She sees you as the expert in your own life and walks alongside you as you make sense of your relationship patterns, where they started, and what you want to change. To help guide you through the processing, Serena uses attachment-based therapy paired with EMDR, CBT, and ACT where they help. When past experiences or trauma shape how safe closeness feels, EMDR therapy can help process them.
Serena aims to create a therapeutic space where you feel seen, heard, and supported, so you can start building healthy relationships.
What to Expect in Your Relationship Therapy
Your first session
Ongoing sessions
Your progress
How Relationship Counselling Can Help
Individual relationship counselling can help you:
- Understand your attachment patterns and why you react the way you do when someone gets close or pulls away
- Stay grounded and present when a conversation gets tense
- Set boundaries, communicate your needs, and choose relationships that feel safe
If trauma is part of your story, trauma therapy can work alongside this.
Relationship Counselling Questions
No. This is individual counselling and the focus is on you. If you and a partner want to work on things together, Sera Psychology also offers couples therapy.
Anxious attachment often looks like worrying about rejection, needing reassurance, or feeling unsettled when someone seems distant. Avoidant attachment often looks like pulling away, shutting down, or feeling uncomfortable relying on others. Attachment styles can shift, and therapy can help you build more secure ways of relating.
Sometimes, yes. Difficult early experiences or past relationship trauma can shape how safe closeness feels. When that's part of the picture, Serena may integrate trauma-focused work like EMDR.
Yes. Sessions are available in person in Edmonton or virtually for anyone in Alberta.
No referral is needed, you can book directly. Many extended health plans cover psychology services, and Sera Psychology direct bills Alberta Blue Cross, Sun Life, GreenShield, and most TELUS eClaims insurers. Check your plan for coverage details.
Ready to Feel More Secure in Your Relationships?
Book a session online, or start with a 10-minute phone consultation to see if working together feels like a good fit.
Visit us at our location
Sera Psychology
4246 97 Street, Suite 104, Building VI
Edmonton, Alberta T6E 5Z9
We're in Building VI in Greystone Business Park. Client parking is in stalls #225 to 228.
Not in Edmonton? Virtual sessions are available anywhere in Alberta.
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