Healthy Relationships: Assessing the Emotional Safety
Couples seek relationship counseling for numerous reasons. No matter what issues they present to therapy with, it often can be boiled down to a problem with the emotional safety in their relationship. The most hostile, distant or disengaged couples are not the only ones who can be challenged with a lack of emotional safety. Those
10 Characteristics of Successful Relationships
People seeking couples counseling seek change to a relationship dynamic that isn’t working in some way. The problems can include poor communication, lack of emotional safety , resentment, trust violations and many other issues. It might even be that the couple have different ideas of what the problems are or simply a felt sense
3 Mistakes Couples Make in Relationship Counseling
Couples counseling can be a helpful tool for a myriad of issues, from significant disconnection and resentment to do a simple check-in to be sure things are going well. Stress, life changes and other circumstances can put strain on any relationship. Getting a refresher on communication skills, conflict management and doing a temperature check on
Mental Illness and Unconditional Love
Tom Smith lost his daughter to mental illness in 2003. He touches on the importance of self-esteem in a society that often compares, continuing to shed light on mental health stigma. Unconditional love lies at the heart of helping a loved one with mental health issues develop positive self-esteem. But as a society we are
Sex in Marriage and Fear of Intimacy
Richard Nicastro, PhD looks at how a fear of intimacy can get in the way of the quality of the sexual relationship in your marriage. He poses questions for reflection for you and your partner to improve the connection. Emotional intimacy involves a connection that occurs between two people who have let their guard down
Happy New Year! The Best of Emotional Health and Relationships 2022
As we say farewell to 2022 and glide into 2023, my hope is that no matter what is going on around you and in the world, you remember that you and your relationships are your best resources for resilience, joy, peace and calm in this life. Whether you have been following me and this site
Dating Fatigue: Take a Break for a More Positive Mindset
Clinton Power, Australian relationship counselor, looks at the benefits of taking a break from dating to reset your thinking, be self-reflective and ultimately be more open and ready for the kind of relationship you really want when you get back out there. If you’ve been in the dating game for a while, it’s likely you’ve
Being in a Relationship with an Adult Child of an Alcoholic
Amy Eden, an adult child of alcoholics and writer offers insight into navigating the waters of being in love with an “ACA.” Have you heard the one about the confused man whose girlfriend of a year and a half suddenly got mad and left him? Just up and left. They’d never fought, not once. The
10 Signs You Don’t Fight Fair in Your Relationship
Conflict is a part of life and relationships. Though having less conflict is a good thing, having no conflict ever is not a realistic goal. The question is whether you and your partner are behaving in ways that will encourage you to successfully navigate through to the other side. An important part of this is
Two Ways to Boost the Emotional Safety in Your Relationship
Emotional safety is one of the most important elements of any happy and healthy relationship. Yet there are so many ways it can be compromised. Sometimes it happens inadvertently and other times it’s a more direct assault on the foundation of the relationship. When a couple has a high level of emotional safety they usually
