If you are in a committed relationship, you are occasionally going to complain about your partner. Valid complaints help us grow and become better partners. But how do you complain without it resulting in a fight? The key is to soften how the complaint is voiced. In Dr. John Gottman’s research, … Read More
Helping Your Child Through Your Divorce
No one wants to go through a divorce, especially when there are children involved. Unfortunately, divorce is a reality for many couples. If you are going through a divorce and you have children, you have a responsibility as a parent to do what you can to protect your child. It’s … Read More
Experiencing Positive Change in Your Relationships
As a marriage and family therapist, the biggest hurdle that I see individuals and couples face in realizing the goals for their relationships is that they keep doing what they have been doing, in spite of having learned a better way. So, as the Nike ad says, “Just do it.” … Read More
Couples Therapy: Experience Something New!
If couples are going to change, they are going to need more than knowledge about what they could do differently. They are going to need to risk doing things differently and have new, healing experiences. DH Lawrence wrote, The world fears a new experience more than it fears anything. Because … Read More
Blended Family: Tips for Surviving the Holiday Season
If you are in a blended family, the holidays may seem like the most difficult time of the year rather than the most wonderful. Splitting time between more than one household is can be stressful. Time always seems too short. You can’t please everyone or feel like you always draw … Read More
Contempt – Relationship Poison
Dr. John Gottman has researched couples for over 40 years. One of the things that he is known for is being able to predict which couples would make it and which would fail with a 94% accuracy rate. Predicting individual behaviors and outcomes is tricky business with a very low … Read More
Reducing Money Conflicts Between Couples
Money is one of the most argued about topics for couples. This blog discusses some of the deeper meanings behind the money arguments and provides guidelines for helping couples face the money dragon and manage their finances as a team. Learn more in this guest blog post from one of … Read More
What about the kids? Children and divorce.
If you have children and are either thinking about, going through, or have been through a divorce, you probably wonder about how your divorce may impact your children. Many people debate whether or not they should stay in a rocky relationship solely for the sake of the children. There are … Read More
Foster Friendship with Your Spouse
While there are differing schools of thought as to whether your spouse can truly be your best friend, one thing is for certain…successful marriages are built on solid friendship. John Gottman, PhD, has studied both the masters and the disasters of relationships for more than 40 years. He figured that … Read More
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.
