History of Smooth Relations…

In her long–term practice as clinical psychologist, Smooth Relations founder Leigh Finkel became aware of how major life cycle events (weddings, Bar Mitzvahs, graduations) seem to intensify family struggles and tensions. She noted how these celebrations that are based upon happy events invariably seem to stir up family conflicts and create additional stresses for those planning and participating in the event. She was able to develop a good track record of counseling individuals and families so as to prevent the escalation of these conflicts; she was gratified to receive appreciative feedback as to how helpful this had been in the eventual success and happiness of the event.

In addition, Leigh also accrued a compilation of stories from others who told about their grief over disastrous weddings and other unhappy “celebrations” which resulted because family discord had never been addressed. From planning and going through her own events, as well as observing those of friends and relatives, Leigh recognized that these conflicts are a normal part of life cycle events, which deserve some extra attention. She noticed that even though the wedding and event planning industries seem to be expanding with ever more choices and services, there is a glaring lack of attention to the emotional struggles involved in and exacerbated by planning such a big event.

As a psychologist, Leigh particularly enjoyed working with difficult family situations and achieved very positive results with some particularly challenging combinations of people. She decided that rather than confine her work to a psychological practice, she could use her skills to help everyday people encountering the stresses and discord involved in event planning. The clear need for such a service, combined with her talents and successes, led to the birth of Smooth Relations — a simple concept that could make all the difference in your special day.