Intimacy. Commitment. Passion. It is a triangle of love. Robert Sternberg’s triangular theory of love to be precise. All three are interconnected, and a healthy relationship has a balance of all three.
Elements of Love: Passion (Part 1 of 3)
Passion. Intimacy. Commitment. Combine all three components into a healthy relationship and you have what psychologist Robert Sternberg calls consummate love.
Stepfamilies and Discipline
One common source of conflict for stepfamilies is dealing with parenting tasks. Step-couples often find themselves polarized when it comes to discipline. Each perceiving the other is either too strict or too permissive. Guidance is provided to help the couple parent as a team.
Improve your Relationships by Increasing Positive Interactions
Do you keep score in your relationships of all the times your loved one has disappointed you? This can create a negative atmosphere that is difficult to overcome. I often tell my clients, “Whatever you are looking for you will find.” What I mean is, if you expect someone to disappoint you, you will only focus on what he/she is doing wrong, to prove you are right. I know we do this to protect ourselves from getting our hopes up and being let down. The problem with this behavior is we miss-out on the good things our loved one is doing.
The Power of [Just] Listening Well
Recently I’ve seen countless examples of people who are hurting, struggling, confused or angry – and they feel completely alone. It seems like the cause for some of the isolation can be traced back to friends, family, or trusted confidants who have no idea how to just be present… how to just listen.
We’re busy. Our thoughts are going a million miles per hour. We’re used to having so much information flying at us, that to stop, press pause, focus, and just listen requires so much discipline.
Cracking the Code
Consciously or unconsciously, we each have a code we live by, a set of principles, beliefs, values, habits, and biases around which we make decisions and form opinions. In fact, the lack of either a cohesive code or a harmony between that code and subsequent behavior is a prominent source of anxiety. Equally stressful is trying to live by a code adopted through force or assimilation.
What to Expect in your Relationship When You’re Expecting
The relationship you share with your partner must be considered one of the most significant relationships in your lifetime. Although parenting is the most important job you will ever have, it’s temporary in a sense that your child will leave the home one day, but your partner is lifelong.
Conflict: should the goal be resolution?
Have you ever felt like you and your partner are having the same argument over and over and it never gets resolved? Do you ever think, couldn’t I just phone this one in? Are you worn out from the battles? Perhaps it’s time for a new approach to conflict.
New Years Resolutions: Dreams, goals and habits
The idea of new year’s resolutions goes all the way back to the ancient Babylonians. They would make promises to their gods at the beginning of their new year. And it seems like the idea has stuck. Four thousand years later, our promises and commitments of how we’re going to change still tends to dominate the conversation at parties this time of year.
However, does it work? How often do we stick with our new year’s resolutions? For most of us, its pretty hit and miss at best. Maybe this year, instead of focusing on a new year’s resolution, you can focus on dreams, goals and habits instead.
What You Should Know about Depression
Depression can come in different forms and can truly affect one’s life. Clinical depression (also known as major depressive disorder) is different from situational depression, which is more commonly considered as, “having the blues.” Clinical depression is the result of not having the right amount of certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters (serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, acetylcholine, and Gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA).