Main features of healthy relationships Many factors go into creating and maintaining healthy relationships. Some of the most essential components are friendship, trust, and respect. When these are in place, a relationship has a strong foundation to weather challenges and grow over time. Without them, even the most passionate connection can falter. Friendship: The foundation ...
Many people think something must be seriously wrong with you if you need counseling. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even though there is a movement to dispel this myth, the stigma still exist. However, life is difficult and we are all thrown curve balls. As a result, we can all benefit from therapy. ...
It is impossible to have a long-term relationship without getting into arguments at some point in time. The health or success of your relationship doesn’t depend on whether you argue or not, but how you argue and how you resolve conflict. This makes all the difference in settling your issue or letting it go. Sometimes ...
When you first fall in love you are on cloud nine. The thought of relationship problems do not even exist. Just about every waking minute is filled with thoughts of your partner. You can’t wait to be with that person. It is like a drug and you can’t get enough of it. This person can ...
We all have this notion of an emotional bank account. John Gottman PhD, the guru of couples counseling and relationships, states that this is just like your financial bank account. When we make a deposit, or do something that leads to a connection with our partner, it is considered a deposit. If we do something ...
Since this week has Valentines Day, love language seems like an appropriate topic. I hope this week will be happy for you. I know not everyone is in a relationship. Some may be grieving the loss of their partner, others might be lonely and some are just fine. Whether you are in a relationship or ...
When you fall in love, you don't think that someday you will ever get in a rut or need to rekindle your relationship. In the beginning it’s like being on a drug. All you can think about is that person. You want to be with them all the time and will do anything to get ...
Last weeks blog was on the argument trap. This is referring to that trap that we get into whenever we discuss a certain topic, or a destructive pattern of arguing. There are many things we do that keep us in that negative cycle. As I was writing I realized there were so many, that I ...
Are there things you put up with in your relationship that you shouldn’t? If so you might be in a toxic relationship. How do you know if your relationship is healthy vs. toxic? In the therapy world we refer to healthy aspects of a relationship as green flags, and unhealthy behaviors as red flags. If ...
When someone gets angry with you or accuses you of something, your first instinct is to defend yourself. We want to protect ourselves, because clearly there has been a misinterpretation of our actions. Yet defensiveness is the worst way to clear up conflict. Reaction to defensiveness If the first thing you do is to defend ...
