Podcast - Episode 0053 - Imago Relationships

Download Episode Here – right click link and select “Save Link As…”

In this episode, Joel and Antonia talk about Imago Relationships and relationship patterns we tend to repeat over and over as humans.

In this podcast on imago relationships you’ll find:

• The concept of Imago Relationships was introduced by Harville Hendrix in his book “Getting the Love You Want”.
• Imago is the Latin term of “image”. We have an image inside our heads of what love looks like based on our relationships with parents, teachers and the ones we love. Depending upon what kind of love interaction you had, you will pick up different love habits and certain markers that mean love to you.
• People look for those markers because that’s where they are very familiar.
• We also have unmet needs. It doesn’t matter how great your parents were because no person can fully meet another person’s needs. In time, you will meet someone who reminds of a deep unconscious level about your parents, sibling or anyone in your life. When you enter into a relationship, initially it would be fun but eventually, you will be unhappy because of needs that go unmet.
• There’s a concept in Imago relationships that you actually end up with the person because they can’t meet your needs. Whatever it is, people will look at those markers because that’s where they’re familiar and comfortable. It’s probably why people who were very abused when they were young are looking for someone who have experienced the same thing.
• We all enter the world wanting love, love is the number one obsession we have as human beings. We’re constantly looking for markers of love and that becomes love to you (no matter what form).
• The concept itself brings something that’s unconscious, then it makes us conscious and aware of what we’re doing. For example: “why am I entering with a relationship with this person, when I know it’s not good for me?”
• According to relationship therapy philosophy, we enter in relationships in order for us to grow. It effective shines a light on our wounding which opens the opportunity to do something about it. If that happens, you can either justify the feeling you had or you can re-evaluate and say that it’s an expression or feeling you need to identify and work on.
• People who are in the Imago Relationship have the tendency to blame the other person because they’re not getting our needs met.
• As you mature, you realize that not one person can meet your needs. Look for the markers that are coming up. Anything you have tension in your relationship, or anything you feel bad, if your insides hurt, there’s something you need to work on.
• Everyone has their own triggers. If you are in an Imago relationship, use that as your tool so you can see what you need to work on.
• You need to understand who you’re with. When you have a loving relationship, you have positive intent for the person vice versa. The less you blame the other person, when you remove the defensive vocabulary, the more you grow, your partner understands you better and the relationships get stronger.
• Marriage is the tool in order to bridge intimacy and commitment. We need to remember that we humans don’t serve the relationship; marriage is not the ultimate thing or focus – we are the focus.
• Instead of attaching so tightly to the desired outcome, look at why you are attached. Ask yourself, “what need is going perpetually unmet in me?”
• Whenever you’re doing things that are not contributing to your personal happiness, that is an inroad in the imago of a need that is unmet.
• When you open yourself up, it can feel terrifying in the moment, but would you rather live a life where you repeat things over and over and you’re not getting to the next level or would you rather risk the relationship, grow and take the relationship to a deeper level?
• The one thing you cannot escape on the planet is yourself. Stop fearing that person, don’t live in a situation that leads to your suffering or misery.
• There are limitations to the type of imago relationship you’re going to enter. You wouldn’t want to enter an imago relationship where you face physical abuse.
• The only thing a relationship where being single can’t is being with another person all the time.
• As a single person, do everything you can in order to meet all your needs as possible.

Things we reference in this podcast:

To subscribe to the podcast, please use the links below:

Subscribe with iTunes
Non iTunes Link
Download The Android App
Subscribe on Soundcloud
Subscribe with Stitcher

If you like the podcast and want to help us out in return, please leave an honest rating and review on iTunes by clicking here. It will help the show and its ranking in iTunes immensely! We would be eternally grateful!

Want to learn more?

Discover Your Personal Genius

We want to hear from you. Leave your comments below…