Relational Psychotherapy is based on relationships, and that who we are and how we relate to others is formed early on. When we come to understand what we believe to be true about ourselves, we realize as well, that these beliefs stem from the messages/responses others gave us at a very young age. Challenging these beliefs makes change possible. The relational psychotherapist is actively involved in the process of bridging the old ways of relating with the new. Hence the emphasis on the word: relational.

The fact is, we are always "in relation" to someone, and we are affected negatively or positively by that exchange. Emotional distress is often rooted in relationships past and present, which have the power to demean and deaden the self. Emotional well-being depends on having satisfying mutual relationships with others. Together the relational psychotherapist and the client concentrate on the client's experience of the world creating a new in depth relationship that is supportive, strengthening and enlivening, in an effort to enhance one's sense of self and one's relationships with others.