Couples

The most common kind of trust issue I see in my practice doesn’t involve infidelity. While I do see many couples and individuals who are recovering from betrayal, the most common trust issue showing up in my practice involves the lack of faith partners have in one another. Unfortunately, it’s an all-too-common situation. Partners are […]

Although about half of all marriages end in divorce, the challenges for second marriages are greater. According to the National Center For Family and Marriage at Bowling Green State University, research shows that 60% of second marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate for third marriages is even higher at 65%. So why does remarrying

Has your relationship hit a plateau or is it in need of a spark? It’s not uncommon for most of us in long-term relationships to feel uninspired or stuck in some form of a relationship rut. Too many people mistakenly conclude that we will always feel the magical passion that exists at the beginning of

Our understanding of emotions keeps growing thanks to scientific research. This includes the work of Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at U.C. Berkeley. He has investigated the topic of what makes us happy and also examined relationship satisfaction.  From this research, he developed some ideas we can all follow in order to increase our happiness

There are tons of blog posts and articles out there that claim to provide the magic formula for creating satisfying and long-lasting relationships. Some focus on keeping your passion alive or finding the secret to love. However, few of these claims are supported by scientific research.  One important exception is research conducted by John and Julie

It’s now 2017 and technology is everywhere. Forget “fast,” everything is about NOW in the instantaneous era of the digital age. With new technology and apps we have more ways to communicate and connect online. It’s a fascinating time, but there’s also a downside to technological advancement.  That’s because there are truly many ways that

It’s generally accepted that premarital education programs help clients learn skills that are beneficial and contribute to the overall health of relationships. There is also some research that suggests premarital counseling helps prevent divorce as well. Premarital counseling is frequently conducted through programs affiliated with a particular faith or religion. Often religious leaders will require

Financial disagreements can not only be damaging financially, they often expose deeper relationship problems. When it comes to harmful relationship problems, conflict over finances is right at the top of the list. There is even some research showing that compared to all types of conflict, financial disagreements are the top predictor of divorce. However, by

I often see couples who, for one reason or another, have fallen out of love. They are hoping to fall back in love, under the magic spell of couple’s therapy, in order to return to the “high” they experienced at the start of their relationship. But how realistic is it for couples to fall back

Anger is a normal emotion. It stems from feeling hurt, anxious, shame, or powerlessness. Although it’s a natural emotion, it is often seen as a problem, even evil, bad, or wrong. However, it’s important to remember that feeling anger is an internal experience.  How anger is expressed is an external issue that can affect others,