Making the same mistakes in love can stop

GREENWICH, Conn., Feb. 16 (UPI) -- A U.S. psychologist says a pattern of unhealthy relationships or making the same mistakes in love over and over can be broken.

Dr. Mark Beitel of Greenwich Hospital's Center for Integrative Medicine in Connecticut says psychotherapy is designed to help a person become aware of repeating negative expectations about love and to correct them so that a more enjoyable love life can be pursued.

"Certain conditions for loving and being loved are created and then maintained across a person's lifespan, and negative life experiences can damage the developing capacity for love," Beitel says in a statement. "People get stuck because the conditions that they have set up for loving tend to operate just outside of awareness."

One way to iron out the wrinkles for the capacity for love is simply to be more present, or mindful, in everyday life, Beitel says.

"Mindfulness can also help us to see our loved ones as they are rather than as we want them to be," Beitel says. "Seeing others clearly reduces the confusion, biases and inappropriate expectations that prevent us from connecting authentically."