Orlando Therapist: How to Deal with Passive-Aggressive People

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and walked away scratching your head thinking, “What just happened? That felt oddly aggressive.” If so, you’ve likely been on the receiving end of subtle jabs or hidden insults. This is known as passive-aggressive communication and it is like a cancer in relationships.

Passive-aggressive communication erodes trust, increases tension, and creates emotional distance between people, making it impossible to form a healthy relationship.

Even though you’re in a healthy relationship, do you sometimes feel like the two of you are in a rut? Does it feel like things are sorta stagnant or like you’re talking about the same things over and over again, kids, work, house stuff.

Does it feel like the depth is missing and you find yourself longing for a little bit more of your partner?

It may be time to take a moment to reflect, taking the time to shift your focus on what's important when you start to feel this overwhelming sensation that your relationship is not where you want it to be. I hope this grounds you and reminds you of where you need to focus your energy to nourish your relationship whether you’re dating, looking at your friendships, or married.

At Mindful Living Counseling Orlando, we help people heal from and stop the cycle of unhealthy and toxic relationships. All of our therapists specialize in helping people move out of unhealthy relationships patterns so that you can enjoy meaningful and satisfying relationships.

Do you often feel angry and resentful in relationships? Do you feel powerless and stuck? Does it seem like you are at the mercy of other people’s moods or decisions? If so, it’s time to stop the blame game, get your footing, and take your power back in your life.

Orlando relationship counselor sharing different ways to say I love you

Do you ever feel like you and your partner aren’t on the same page when it comes to showing your love for each other? Do you often feel like you don’t understand why your partner can’t understand how your hugs at the end of the day show them how much you love them? Or perhaps, your initiative to pick up the kids from school shows them how much you love them?

Orlando therapist providing tools to stop getting into toxic relationships.

From my experience as an anxiety therapist and relationship counselor, there are multiple possibilities of why you could be feeling overwhelmed, confused, or discouraged in your relationships (romantic or otherwise). In this blog series I will walk you through the different possibilities for what is causing your unhealthy relationship patterns and tools to start creating healthy ones.

Orlando relationship therapist discussing the qualities of a healthy relationship…

Feeling overwhelmed in your relationship? You want closeness and connection, but there seems to be some invisible forcefield preventing you from experiencing the closeness that you so deeply crave? Do you often wonder, “Is it me or my partner?” Or in moments of desperation, do you want to throw in the towel completely, thinking, “Maybe I’m just not meant to be in a relationship!?”

Orlando Counselor providing you traits of toxic people to be aware of in relationships…

Feeling overwhelmed and confused about your relationship? Do you often find yourself wondering, “Is it me or them?” Do you feel stuck in all the drama and can’t seem to make heads or tails of who is doing what to create all the discord?

Your relationship is supposed to feel like a nice warm hug at the end of a hectic day, a safe haven of sorts, from the crazy world we live in. But, if yours feels like you’ve cuddled up to a giant porcupine, you may be in a relationship with an emotionally unhealthy person.

Orlando Counseling Providing Relationship Therapy

"Why, oh why, do I keep going back? I know this relationship is toxic and I keep going back!” These words or some other closely related sentiment bounce off the walls during relationship counseling at least once a month.

Or when a relationship ends, “My ex is a total jerk! Why do I keep picking jerks?”

In couples counseling, I hear, “It always ends up this way! She walls off and stops talking and I end up exploding and nothing gets resolved. It’s like we can’t even communicate.”

Orlando Counseling Providing Relationship Therapy

Many many years ago, in fact, it feels like another lifetime ago, my “partner picker” was programmed to Narcissist. It seemed like the only men I was attracted to were self-absorbed, self-interested, and self-serving. I continued to find myself in relationships where my role was to, in some way, serve someone else’s selfish interests. I would find myself scratching my head saying, “How the hell did this happen again?” It wasn’t until years later, I realized my beliefs were sabotaging my picker.