Relationship advice & insights.
I'm Mark Ryan, a BACP Accredited Psychotherapist and NCPS Accredited Relationship Therapist working with relationships, couples, individuals, and polycules across London. This is where I write about the things that come up most often in the therapy room; jealousy, coming out to a partner, separation, sex and intimacy, and the ordinary arguments that usually aren't about what they first appear to be about.
Some of what's here is written for couples working through something together. Some of it is for one person trying to make sense of their own experience before bringing a partner into it. All of it is grounded in research and real clinical practice, not generic advice dressed up as insight.
Browse the archive.
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- Attachment 10
- Communication and conflict 20
- Couples therapy London 111
- Emotional Abuse 4
- Individual therapy London 2
- Infidelity & Betrayal 7
- Jealousy 3
- LGBTQIA Therapy 20
- Labels 4
- Mental Health and Wellbeing 20
- Money and Relationships 3
- Neurodiversity and Relationships 6
- Non-Monogamy and Open Relationships 9
- Parenting 9
- Relationship therapy London 109
- Seasonal 5
- Separation and Divorce 14
- Sex and Intimacy 14
- Single Session Therapy 3
- Summer 4
- Trust and Repair 9
Lesbian Couples Therapy and What to Expect
A London relationship therapist on lesbian couples therapy, what tends to show up in the room, and why your problems aren't automatically about being lesbian.
Mixed-Orientation Relationships and How Couples Stay Together
A London relationship therapist on mixed-orientation relationships after a partner comes out, what tends to change, and why staying together isn't settling.
Bisexual Erasure in Relationships and Why It Happens
A London relationship therapist on bisexual erasure in relationships, how it shows up differently for men and women, and what making real space looks like.
Am I Bisexual? What It Means and What Happens Next
A London relationship therapist on working out whether you're bisexual, what the research says, and what it means if this comes up inside a relationship.
Coming Out to Your Partner
A London relationship therapist on coming out to your partner, what tends to happen next, and why it doesn't automatically mean the relationship is over.
Am I Heteroflexible? Questioning Your Straightness and What It Means for Your Relationship
A London relationship therapist on what heteroflexible means, how common it is, and how partners can talk about it with openness and care.
Is My Partner Gay? My Partner Is Questioning Their Sexuality
A London relationship therapist unpacks what it can feel like for the partner of someone questioning their sexuality, what it does and doesn't mean, why the silence happens, and what helps.
Am I Gay? Questioning Your Sexuality While in a Relationship
A London relationship therapist on noticing same-sex attraction while partnered, what it might mean, why you don't need an answer yet, and how therapy can help.
Gay Open Relationships: A Therapist’s View
A London relationship therapist on non-monogamy in gay male couples: the different agreement types, where they tend to break down, and what helps.
Jealousy in Non-Monogamous Relationships
A London relationship therapist on jealousy in polyamorous and open relationships: what it looks like, what compersion is, and why opening up doesn't switch jealousy off.
Why Is My Partner So Jealous? Living With a Jealous Partner
For the partner on the receiving end of jealousy: what is driving it, why your reassurance never settles it, what it is costing you, and what you can change.
Why Am I So Jealous? Understanding Jealousy in Relationships
A London relationship therapist on what jealousy does inside a couple, why reassurance and checking make it worse, and when the feeling is telling you the truth.
Why Do I Feel Lonely in My Relationship?
You're not imagining it, and you're not the only one. A London couples therapist on why loneliness inside a relationship is real, common, and different from being alone.
How to Separate or Divorce Without Destroying Yourself or Each Other
Nobody plans to make their separation painful. But most people do, without meaning to. A London couples therapist on what a good separation looks like, and how to get there.
Life After Separation, and How to Start Again
A London relationship therapist on life after separation, why your sense of self can blur, how attachment shapes recovery, and when therapy helps.
Why Heatwaves Make You Argue With Your Partner
You’re not imagining it, and it’s not just you. Heat does something real to mood, patience, and conflict. A London couples therapist on what’s happening and what to do about it.
Co-Parenting After Separation: Keeping Communication Working When the Relationship Hasn't
You don't have to like each other to co-parent well. But you do have to communicate. This piece looks at what gets in the way, what research says works, and what to do when it isn't working.
Advice for Separating Parents: Telling the Kids, What to Say and When
Telling the kids about separation is one of the hardest conversations separating parents face. A London couples therapist on timing, what to say at each age, and how to make the conversation as safe as possible.
Should We Stay Together for the Kids?
‘Should We Stay Together for the Kids? ‘ is one of the questions couples who are also parents ask most and answer least honestly. A London couples therapist on what the research says, and what matters for children.
Long-Distance Relationships Through Summer
Summer can strain a long-distance relationship in ways that feel disproportionate to what's actually happening. A London couples therapist on why, and what tends to help.