It never hurts to revisit an old topic, one that applies to every one of us: I am referring to effective conflict management. Three or four times a week I have a couple in my office and one of them says they are afraid of conflict. When I asked them what that means, typically [...]

Reducing Defensiveness There are several things that get in the way of relationship satisfaction, and I suppose it’s up for debate as to which one is the most destructive. The one I see most frequently in my office, usually on a daily basis, is defensiveness.  From what I can tell, no one is immune–we ALL [...]

  Yelling at Children This is a topic that has meaning for everyone. All of us have raised our voices, probably more than once. No, I did not come from a home of screaming parents or siblings. However, I do see many families and couples who yell a lot at each other, and the short [...]

How To Re-Build Trust   As you can see by the title, the word “re-build” implies that the trust between the two of may have been damaged.  The damage may range from minimal to substantial. The range of events that can have a negative impact on trust goes from minor things that we say we [...]

Turns out that it’s the little things that make the biggest differences in the day to day routine with our partners/spouses that leave a couple feeling closer to, and safer with, each other. Try the following, and note the responses: –Catch your partner in the act of doing something you like and point it out… [...]