Relationships

Many people are in unhealthy relationships today, but stay because the relationship feels "normal". There is a fundamental difference in what is normal and...

  Before I became a couples therapist, I looked at conflicted couples (and my own conflicted relationships) and saw pain, insecurity, desperation, and little hope. Today, I see conflicted couples (and my own marital challenges) as golden opport...

How Do I Know When it’s Time To Leave? Maybe you're on the fence about leaving a relationship. Worry and fear keep you up at night. You wonder, what will happen if you leave? Will the kids be ok? Will you be okay on your own? These questio...

Every person reacts differently when a relationship comes to a close. Some do not want to even think of another relationship and others want to start (or already started) a new relationship ASAP. So, the big question, when are we ready? Are we ever rea...

Think about the last time you got really upset at your partner. Did your reaction surprise you or your partner? In these situations, it is important to look at the feelings that arise, especially feelings of anger because these are indicators of some d...

What’s the Problem with “No Problem?”   By Marcia Naomi Berger, MSW. LCSW   When you express thanks to someone and then hear, “No Problem,” how do you feel? Maybe it’s fine with you. Maybe you yourself ...

Do you remember hearing the phrase as a child, “Do as I say, not as I do”? Everyone makes mistakes. So of course parents want you to listen to their words and not copy their actions. Unfortunately, that’s not how we learn best. When...

Marie and Luke were in unfortunately familiar territory in this fight. Mostly they got along okay; but then something relatively small would happen and it would seem to set off a bigger fight. It was if the fight was about something bigger than what t...

Intimacy is at the core of every committed partnership. Well…it should be. But over time and after the inevitable process of settling into the complacent routines of a long-term relationship, intimacy seems to feel further away than it perhaps o...

Limerence, a term coined in 1977 by psychologist Dorothy Tennov, is an involuntary interpersonal state that involves strong sexual or intense emotional attraction to...