The next step in building your own sound relationship house is turning towards instead of away from your partner. This means learning to recognize little day-to-day attempts made by your partner to connect with you.
In the practical blog on conflict I offered some simple steps to dealing with conflict. Now I want to talk about how I (and I think most people) handle conflict.
Interpersonal conflict is guaranteed in life. Some would even say the holidays foster it as we find ourselves spending time with family members we may try to avoid the remainder of the year. In December’s blog I will talk about ways to prevent conflict. But for now, let’s talk about how to handle conflict once […]
The next step in building your own sound relationship house is nurturing fondness and admiration. Sometimes in relationships, we can let the stresses of life get in the way and it can be easy to focus on the negative things about our partner instead of enjoying who they are like we do at the beginning […]
As the third of five siblings, I feel like I lived through the good, the bad, and the ugly growing up. Having a large family meant a lot of love, a lot of fights, a lot of tears, and a lot of laughter. While this is true of most families, no matter how big or […]
Marriages and romantic relationships take a lot of work, and it is hard to know what to do when we don’t feel the relationship is as satisfying as it could be. Luckily, there is a researcher named John Gottman who has spent decades studying love and marriage scientifically and has developed a list of traits […]
According to author Gary Chapman, there are five love languages (or ways in which we give and receive love): words of affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. Each individual has an intrinsic need to give and receive love. It is important to understand how we receive love, but it is also […]
I can remember being a young girl and offhandedly complaining to my mother as we were packing for a beach vacation that it seemed like a lot of work. She looked at me and not so depressingly said, “Everything in life takes work, even going on a vacation. You work before you go and you […]
“I just want to have mediocre sex,” or “I just want to talk LESS/spend LESS time with him/her,” said no one ever in a healthy romantic relationship.
Dependent. Co-dependent. Afraid to be alone. Passive. I have been all of these things at some point in my life, though less and less so as the years go by. As my mom likes to say, my “emotional batting average” continues to improve.
