My Relationship is Bad. Exit Or Stick Around? “How long should I stay?” is a question that I get sometimes in individual therapy clients and a little less frequently in couple therapy too. As a therapist, I can’t answer for the client but I do have ways of helping my clients answer the question for…
Eight Ways to Avoid Holiday Arguments and Keep the Peace Every holiday, all over social media, I see snarky posts about the yearly tradition of holiday arguments. Maybe it is no surprise then that right after New Year’s Day, couples therapist offices like mine are flooded with new clients seeking help for issues that came…
How to Get Over Resentments Resentments can poison a relationship slowly over time. For that reason it is very important to remove past resentments and to stop the process that is creating new ones. Maybe it will come as no surprise that dealing with resentments is a common problem that I help with in couples…
How to Thank Your Partner Increasing expressions of appreciation in a relationship can help them repair old hurts and to create new connections. But especially in long-term relationships, a simple thank-you can sometimes fall flat. This post describes a simple way of expressing appreciation and three ways to deepen the practice. Appreciation for Behavior “Thank…
Do I Want to be in This Relationship? Part II In my last blog entry, I talked about how to use your vision for your future, as shaped by the reality of a prospective partner, to decide whether you want to continue a relationship. In this entry, I will take a more present-moment-oriented approach to…
Do I want to be in this relationship? Part I When to get into or whether to stay in a relationship or leave can be one of the biggest decisions in life. I have two discernment conversations that I often have with clients when this conversation arises in therapy. The first, and the topic of…