Lessons from Generations How My Mother’s Dating Wisdom Led to a Successful Engagement One of my clients came to her session last Thursday night and announced that our project of getting her engaged was officially successful. She joyfully showed off her beautiful ring and told me all the details. She reminded me that it took …
Finding Your Life’s Direction A Story of Passion, Purpose, and the Search for the Right Partner I sat down to meet with a father and son recently. The father’s concern was that his nineteen-year-old son was not socializing with his peers. They are an immigrant family who have been in the U.S. for most of …
Mastering the Three Essential Relationship Skills Michael and I have been teaching couples for over thirty-five years now. There is a lot to learn about staying connected and growing together as well as individually throughout the lifespan. We talk about the big picture: how our focus and values evolve over time and the skills we …
From Frustration to Fulfillment: Mastering the Three Essential Relationship Skills Read More »
Defining Love: How Boundaries Strengthen Relationships I saw a couple this week who inspired this newsletter. They are in love, honest, and have differences that need negotiation. They present a tough issue that requires deep personal reflection about what is important and what can be compromised without damaging the bond of love for the partner …
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An Old Tale for a New Era Marriage has never been easy, but in the current culture of equality, gender and role fluidity, romantic relationships may be even more strained. Yet, the fundamentals of navigating a relationship to fulfill the promise of a loving marriage has not changed. The key to satisfying the desire for …
There is more to say about the middle-aged couple who could not hear each other. You might recall that the wife was trying to invite her husband to grow their emotional connection. She didn’t say that exactly in those words. She said other words that were vague and implied there was something wrong with the …
I have been working with a couple for the last few weeks who beautifully illustrate the opportunities of a long-term marriage. I want you to hear about them because they could be a version of your marriage. They are quintessentially a man and a woman with a midlife struggle, which means it is not enough …
Probably everyone has some kind of trauma. It doesn’t have to be war-related and eligible for a PTSD diagnosis. More subtle trauma comes from childhood experiences when we were too young to speak up for ourselves, and so we were hurt. Most of us don’t realize we have injuries until we are in our marriage …
Uncover the Hidden Traumas Impacting Your Relationship Read More »
I saw a couple this week in my office that could be any couple when things go off track. This couple has two children: they’ve been together for almost two decades. That is a big investment of time and enough time to create a lot of hurt feelings. She is hurt because she doesn’t experience …
We all have feelings. That in itself is not a problem. Feelings give us a lot of information. We learn what we like and don’t like. That translates into what we want and don’t want. Without this information, we cannot direct our lives. We don’t like working with numbers; we like working with people. That …
