Relationships

In the progress of personality, first comes a declaration of independence, then a recognition of interdependence. ~Henry Van Dyke So where do you place yourself on the scale of being dependent or independent? How do people describe you, and do they regularly use either of those two words? THINK JOHN WAYNE… In our Western culture, the ideal person […]

“So, how was your day?” Fine. “What happened in school today?” Nothing. You’re trying to connect. You’re trying to get them to open up. But even when you ask open-ended questions, sometimes no one really wants to talk. How do you get beyond one-word answers and superficial communication so you can really connect with the people you care

Married With Children. I’ve counseled many couples through the transition from being single to becoming a married couple, and then from being a married couple to the bliss and stress of “married with children.” Raising children can be an amazing journey for couples, allowing them to explore and heal all sorts of things, to grow individually and together as

I’ve been seeing a lot of couples lately who are in the death throes of the process leading ultimately to divorce. There is no doubt in my mind that the economic and financial stress of the last 18 months is taking a huge toll on marriages out there. There’s more stress, more uncertainty, more job loss to deal

You know them… snarky people. The masters of that combination of sarcastic and cynical that ends up being smugly critical and absolutely unbearable to human beings after a while. If the snarks are your friends or co-workers, you can handle it because they will eventually go away. Or you will go away. But what if you live with a

Say you are fighting with your significant other. I know.  It’s not fun, but it happens. What do you think your partner wants the most from you when you’re fighting? A.  for you to give an apology B.  for you to share control of decision making C. for you to show more investment in the relationship D. for you to give affection Most people

Happy Birth Day! Our daughter turned 12 this week, and I’ve been reflecting on what I have learned about parenting since the day she came into the world… “Yes! Make Her Cry!” Hayley’s birth was very quiet and peaceful. I went inward to focus on the job at hand, and gave everything I had…and then more. Thankful and

COMFY? How Stable is Your Relationship? Take your typical 4-legged wooden stool. It’s nice and stable…if it’s got all 4 legs. You can probably even manage with 3 solid ones. But fewer than 3 and there’s instability…you don’t want to sit on a 2-legged stool. Although I’ve heard that employees of nuclear power plants sometimes sit on 1-legged

IT’S NOT MY PROBLEM… My favorite image of a team is the 2-person bobsled. (Known fact:  I LOVE THE OLYMPICS!!!!) Imagine for a moment that the person in the back of the bobsled says to the one hunkered down in the front “Hey, teammate, something just fell off the back!’ Now imagine that the person in the front

THE SECRET TO A LONG HAPPY RELATIONSHIP I’m going to share with you one of the greatest secrets to a long-lasting, healthy relationship…other than using the Bobsled Principle, that is! It has to do with the vows that you are willing to make to your partner, once you are “in it to win it,” so to speak. There