“I’m forcing and pushing my partner to change”: Are you getting stuck in the same patterns with your partner?
- Katarina Polonska

- 16 minutes ago
- 4 min read

If you’re doing all the emotional heavy lifting in your relationship, driving the change, initiating the conversations, suggesting the books, the sessions, the plans….
And instead of progress, it just feels like you’re dragging them uphill.
Then this is for you.
Of course, you try to communicate to your partner that you need things to change.
The way you argue, for example - it’s just too explosive.
It doesn’t get you very far, you both end up upset, and nothing gets resolved.
So you are the one who is proactive, and comes up with new solutions, new ideas, new goals.
You try to set that goal and practice new behaviours.
Your partner is on board!
You try to work on communication.
You try to change things.
…But ultimately, you both end up back to how you were.
Those same old habits keep coming back.
And it’s frustrating as heck, because you don’t know how progress can come about…
So you wonder:
Are things always going to be this way?
Are you always going to be stuck repeating the same old stuff?
Are you both going to stay stuck in this status quo until you’re in retirement years?
Can you live like this?
If this is happening to you, then you’re likely running into subconscious resistance to change.
And actually that needs solving before anything else.
Here’s why change feels impossible, no matter how badly you want it - or hard you work at it.
Your brain is built for survival.
Which means, it’s built for repetition.
It prioritizes survival over progress, because it prefers the devil it knows.
It prioritizes peace over making you happy
Meaning…
Familiarity is far more important than your personal fulfilment.
It doesn't really care about the changes you’re trying to make.
It cares about the safety it can create for you - which means keeping you in the familiar and repeating the same old, same old.
New stuff is threatening!
Which means that the moment you try to act differently, speak up, set a boundary, or pursue something new, the brain flags that change as a threat (which it doesn’t like).
And thus pulls you back to the old, familiar, status quo.
Even if it’s painful.
This is why you can so often feel foggy, stuck, or disconnected every time you try to shift things.
You can have the best of intentions…
But still struggle.
You can be a super strong executive with tons of leverage and power - and still find this really hard.
Because your subconscious has been trained to keep things the same, even if that “same” is fundamentally…well, miserable.
Until you recondition that - your relationship to change - on a deeper level, no strategy or tool will stick.
This is also why traditional coaching doesn’t work.
Most frameworks focus on “what to say,” “how to communicate,” or “rebuild the spark.”
Which is all very good and well.
Tactics are useful, yes.
But tactics don’t work when the deeper system is still terrified of change and hell bent on keeping things the same.
If there are deeper blocks in your subconscious around what change means -
For example, what does it mean if you take a time out during a conflict?
Does it mean you are being abandoned or not good enough or powerless?
Or does it mean you are reaching for more safety?
Until you shift those deeper pieces of your wiring to actually cooperate with the changes you’re trying to make…
Honestly, no worksheet or mindset hack will get you to where you want to go.
Because fundamentally, you need recalibration at the root cause level.
That’s exactly what I do.
My method is deeper and more structural.
In our work together, we identify and clear the old patterns - those blocks - that are still shaping how you relate.
We basically look at WHY your brain is so resistant to change, where that is coming from, and start to work with those parts, first.
We start to help those parts that are so resistant by shifting the blocks, the fear, and really tending to that dysregulated operating system inside of you that keeps you grabbing for the familiar rather than the new.
Then, once you’re feeling clearer, lighter, safer, more grounded, and less blocked, we build a new strategy, one that’s rooted in achieving the goals you want to hit.
Here’s what that looks like, very high level:
Liberate - We identify your hidden patterns and clear the blocks that keep you stuck in cycles and preventing you from changing.
Reconnect - We rebuild self-trust, so you know what’s true, what you need, and what to do to get to your goals. Are they even aligned with who you really are?
Create - We design a practical, intelligent path forward, whether that’s deeper connection or a clean exit.
This is how we achieve change the fastest.
Work with those deeper parts, to get to the changes you want to see.
If this resonates, message me.
I would love to help you.


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