Couples therapy can be an intimidating prospect. The thought of inviting another person (even a mental health professional) to analyze our relationship can be off-putting to many, and completely alienating to some couples. There may be things in our relationship that feel too overwhelming or painful to change.  But for those who work through the […]

There are a lot of reasons that a relationship can struggle. We aren’t born with the tools we need to communicate with, listen to, and love one another, and we don’t always learn them in childhood. The painful stories in our past can make picturing a positive future feel like an impossibility, and our worries […]

Bad communication can sap the hope out of deeply meaningful relationships. Sometimes, we struggle to communicate with the people we care for the most. School might have taught us grammar and vocabulary to improve our communication, but students are seldom given the emotional education they need. We have to teach ourselves the lesson instead. Is […]

Reuniting with our families can be a test of everything we learn in therapy. Yet it seems that family gatherings often leave us wanting to return to our old habits, and forgo using our toolkit altogether. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. It is possible to have positive interactions with our families while […]

How can you and your partner argue less? Encouraging an environment of effective communication is one of the biggest challenges any couple can face, and nobody is sent into this world with the tools to have perfect harmony in their relationships. Here are a few tips to foster listening and understanding in your relationships:   Using […]

Everyone has a different way they prefer to give and receive love, depending on their love language. You might find that you relate to all of the love languages, but most people have a primary and secondary love language that they feel fits them the most. Dr Gary Chapman wrote The 5 Love Languages: The […]

You’re sick of all the fighting. You try to have serious conversations with your partner, but it always seems to devolve into a nasty argument. It happens over and over, and for what reason? Your spouse insists that it’s because you don’t listen.  And they’re probably right, at least a little bit. Fostering an environment […]

Let’s face it—we all may not have been the best listeners lately, especially when we are so consumed with what’s going on in our own world. This can stem from an inability to listen, or perhaps it alludes to something deeper–an unwillingness to listen.  Instead of listening, we are so stuck on what we think […]