01Apr

Relationships 101 — The Practical Side

“You don’t need love to make a relationship last.” I recently heard this quote at a speaking engagement.  The topic was marriage and the expert was illustrating how love gets us into our relationships, but that it takes much more than that for a love relationship to stand the test of time. For a relationship […]

01Feb

Married to Your Counselor? –The Practical Side

Life is full of changes. This week I learned that a friend of mine has been promoted and will move across the country soon. A few days after that, my phone rang and I was told a family member’s cancer has returned. And just this morning a friend of mine’s infant daughter was admitted to […]

15Aug

Building Trust

Many couples (whether they are dating or in a committed relationship) spend so much time and energy whirling around in circles. They’re trying to understand each other, guessing if the other truly cares, wondering if they are committed… mostly just trying to figure out if they can trust each other. Part of the game is due […]

19May

Love Science

Maybe John Lennon was on to something when he wrote the song Love is All You Need. In our society today love is looked upon as something whimsical, mysterious, intangible and fleeting. You are lucky if you experience it and even luckier if you can hold on to it. If we look at love as something […]

13May

Building Your Sound Relationship House: Part 7- Creating Shared Meaning

The final step in Gottman’s Sound Relationship House is Creating Shared Meaning. This area focuses on rituals of connection, roles, goals, and symbols for the couple. Gottman posits that each family creates its own unique culture. Within that family’s culture, different things, holidays, traditions, etc. hold great importance. For example, some families insist that dinnertime […]