There’s a weekly ritual I suggest any time your relationship feels stale, passionless or fraught with negative tension. It’s a ritual that has saved countless partnerships, bringing marriages back from the brink of destruction. I basically guarantee that it will lead to more intimacy, more laughs, more connection and a renewed respect for one another. But the nature of this …
When you think of the word “Entitlement”, what comes to mind? It’s probably negative. You might think of it in a pejorative sense, like “that entitled jerk just walked in demanding a free refill on his coffee. We don’t do that here!” But I’m here to tell you that entitlement can be a good thing. And no matter what your …
I often get asked: “How do I prevent myself from taking on my partner’s feelings? And how do I make sure they’re not taking on mine?” This is a really important question. It gets to the heart of what relationships are all about…and what we should avoid in order to make sure we achieve balance with the other person. The …
Do your conflicts turn into fights? It’s time for you and your partner to start using a technique that I like to call “Talk to the Face.” Picture this. You’re frustrated because your partner is not getting it. And by “it”, I mean your perspective. Are they even listening? Why isn’t this getting through their head? Don’t they care about …
Couples typically don’t structure their lives around a regular planning meeting, one where they deal with all the accrued issues around the decisions and logistics they are responsible for in their daily lives. However, this type of meeting is imperative to have on a regular basis – ideally weekly – particularly for long-term relationships. The frequency and duration of these …
Being able to apologize effectively is an essential skill for both partners in any relationship. Unfortunately, in my line of work, I don’t see a lot of good apologies happening. It’s one of the topics I coach people most on, because there are a lot of bad habits that couples tend to fall into regarding attempted apologies. This can lead …
Your partner is inevitably going to let you down. You will be irritated by your partner for different reasons throughout your life, and you may find it is increasingly so at certain times, such as during the holidays or when you have a child together. This is part and parcel of being part of a functional relationship. Nobody sees the …
As we grow up, we automatically take up specific notions about what it looks like to raise a child. We get these ideas from our own childhood, from our experiences with our parents and caregivers. There’s no intellectual, one-size-fits-all solution for how to parent a child, and even if there was one, we wouldn’t likely agree with it. We have …
A lot of people have a very difficult time expressing and bringing up the impacts of another person’s behaviors. It’s hard to know what’s a fair thing to ask for from your partner. Therefore, I want to provide you with a bit of a road map for how to deal with compulsive behaviors that are having a negative effect on …
Giving your partner feedback about certain behaviors can be a difficult conversation to navigate. It’s hard to bring up negative things about another person without them becoming defensive and shutting down, especially when that person is the other half of your primary relationship. The problem primarily stems from an inability to see feedback from our partner as anything other than …
