The art of agreeing to disagree with others with is necessary to maintain healthy relationships with colleagues, neighbors, friends, and that uncle who uses the Thanksgiving dinner table as his opportunity to convert you to his personal ideology - but what happens when the disagreements involve the person closest to you? When partners disagree on topics that get filed under “core values”, it might … [Read more...] about How to Understand One Another When the Stakes are High: Managing Conflicting Values in Relationships
Couples Communication
Navigating Communication and Parenting in a Relationship: The Four Horseman, Parenting, and Maintaining a Loving Relationship
Communication is one of the most common reasons couples seek therapy. It can feel like a never-ending journey to be effectively understood by others and to better understand our partners. Unfortunately, things get in the way of understanding and being understood, in the form of unhelpful types of communication. Especially when you add kids into the equation. Lack of sleep, busy schedules, and the … [Read more...] about Navigating Communication and Parenting in a Relationship: The Four Horseman, Parenting, and Maintaining a Loving Relationship
Relationship Tune-Up: Making Relationship Maintenance a Priority
We spend countless hours taking care of things in our lives that we depend on to keep things running smoothly. Like the saying “prevention is better than the cure”. We keep up on things that need “maintenance”, oil changes, yearly check-ups, therapy, but how often do we look under the hood of our marriage? We hear a knocking in our car and we bring it right in, but often, we ignore the clunks and … [Read more...] about Relationship Tune-Up: Making Relationship Maintenance a Priority
When Living Together Isn’t Going Well During Quarantine
There are different levels of things not going well in a relationship during quarantine. On one end of the spectrum we have couples who are for most of the time getting along with only a minor dispute occasionally. Other couples are being tested by the time in quarantine and are noticing more frequent fighting, or that their fighting is more intense. While this is concerning, it can be managed and … [Read more...] about When Living Together Isn’t Going Well During Quarantine
The Importance of Vacations for Couples
Its that time of the year again—vacation time! We all know that vacations can be a great way to recharge ourselves…but they can also recharge our relationship. Regardless of budget I highly recommend that couples take at least one vacation a year together (and by together, I mean just the two of you—no extended family or with friends). Here is why vacations can be so helpful for couples: … [Read more...] about The Importance of Vacations for Couples
5 Benefits of a “Business of Marriage” Weekly Meeting
A “Business of Marriage” meeting is an intentionally scheduled sit-down talk with your partner to review important topics such as finances, career challenges, childcare or pet care matters, upcoming visit or trips and even an emotional check-in. Ideally the meeting will happen on a weekly basis, is scheduled ahead of time, and can be as long as or as short … [Read more...] about 5 Benefits of a “Business of Marriage” Weekly Meeting