Betrayal in a marriage is one of the most challenging experiences a couple can face. It can shatter trust, leave emotional scars, and make it difficult to move forward. Although infidelity is one of the most common types of betrayal, there are many other ways that...
Conflict and repair
The Timeout: The Best Tool to Resolve a Fight With Your Partner
In the heat of a fight or an argument, emotions can flare up, making it challenging to maintain a constructive dialogue. As a therapist, we often see how conflicts escalate when people become overwhelmed by their emotions. Even though every couple argues, a fight can...
How to Win and Lose a Perspective Battle With Your Spouse
Have you ever engaged in a perspective battle with your partner? These types of conflicts are very common among couples. When couples are in a perspective battle, they aren’t listening to understand each other, rather, they are listening only to defend their point of...
Repair In The Real World: It’s The Little Things
“ We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily difference we can make, which over time, often add up to big differences we often cannot foresee.” - Marian Wright Edelman It would be accurate and certainly...
The Obstacles to Forgiveness (and how to move around them)
If you've been hurt by your partner's infidelity, lying, or other type of relationship distress, forgiveness may feel like an insurmountable mountain. While Alexander Pope said, "To err is human; to forgive, divine," it's important to note that forgiveness is a...
Forgiveness: What Is It (Really) And How Can I Forgive?
Forgiveness is a weighty concept that can carry so many different connotations. If we were scientists in a lab trying to define this complex and nebulous idea, we would never truly reach the end of our study. That vagueness is why it can be so tough to consider the...
The Problem with Fights is They’re Fast
Isn’t it surprising how quickly things can go off the rails when you have a disagreement with your partner? One minute, you’re driving down the road easily talking about vacation plans, and the next minute your partner is crackling with tension and you’re fighting...