Relationships are hard! In times of conflict, like when you hurt someone’s feelings or they hurt yours, emotions run high. When emotions are set-off, it revs us up. Our bodies react to triggered emotions by getting tense. We put up our guards and get defensive. Our...
“A boundary is simply what’s ok and what’s not ok.” — Brené Brown Every couple will negotiate boundaries: what is individual, what is ours, and what is public. The architecture of a relationship is made up of a web of rules and roles that we begin weaving on the first...
Has a loved one ever hurt you and though they apologized, you weren’t able to put the offense behind you? Something about their apology was missing the mark. In their book, “The Five Languages of Apology” Gary Chapman and Jennifer Thomas found that “what one...
No matter how good your communication skills, everyone experiences “emotional hijacking” when conflict affects their significant relationships. First Step for Emotion Regulation: ASSESS the elements of what is happening ACTION: Stop doing whatever...
More than ninety percent of married individuals in the United States believed that monogamy is important but almost half of them admit to having had affairs. I work with couples who try to recover from infidelity, which is one of the most devastating traumatic and...
In part 1 of Conflict: The Pathway to Intimacy, we learned how to identify negative patterns in our relationship and what we can do have more awareness of this destructive cycle. We are reminded to take a time out to think and go within go get clarity on what is...
