Negotiating relationships in today's fast-paced world can be difficult. Work and family demands can strain a relationship and have partners at odds with one another. Conflicts in relationships can occur simply because we carry the baggage of failed, past, relationships into new situations. Often, problems are a result of dysfunctional patterns of communication that exist between partners. One partner speaks and the other does not listen and the rebuffed partner's needs go unattended. Relationships can become hostile and antagonistic where partners argue, criticize and degrade one another. A common aspect of all these problems is that they have potential solutions that can be co-created in the therapeutic relationship.