Often manifesting as problems of communication and conflict resolution, relational limitations exist in all couples. There is a bandwidth for intimacy in which every couple resides and struggles to move beyond. This bandwidth is determined by a variety of factors including each partner’s family of origin, upbringing, psychological maturity, and interpersonal sophistication. We enter relationships with the paradoxical need for closeness together with fears, trepidations, and deficits in our capacity to be deeply connected and bonded with our partner. Psychologist and author Lindsay Gibson has directed her attention to what she calls “emotional immaturity” among partners in relationships. Each partner, she argues, features certain qualities and characteristics that may obstruct relational expression; she traces these factors to the emotional limitations of our parents to which we were exposed as children. In the next virtual meeting of the Relationship Group Seminar on Saturday, April 2, 2022 (11:45 AM to 1:00 PM), we will explore Gibson’s perspective, specifically her podcast interview “Decoding Emotional Immaturity.” Moreover, we will review how experts conceptualize emotional maturity in relationships and review the indicators of emotional maturity. In our discussion, we will consider the alternative signs of emotional immaturity in partners, specifically how psychological defenses are utilized to a fault and the relationship dynamics that unfold as emotional immaturity persists.

* Registration Directions: If you would like to attend the next virtual meeting of the Relationship Group Seminar on Saturday, April 2, 2022, 11:45 AM to 1:00 PM, please RSVP to me at 949-338-4388 or jt@jamestobinphd.com no later than Thursday, March 31, 2022. The fee is $25.00 (payable before entering the virtual meeting) and informed consent for participation in this telehealth event must be completed prior to the seminar. Please note that the Relationship Group Seminar is psychoeducational in nature, not therapeutic, and does not constitute psychotherapy or counseling.