Both men and women often complain about having an emotionally unavailable partner. But emotional availability is a two-way street. When one person is emotionally available, the other person may not be receptive. One may be full up with internal conflicts, and unable to register their partner’s need for emotional availability. The other may have [...]
Perimenopausal rage is real, straining and threatening the relationship between partners. Perimenopausal rage is a common symptom on the journey to full menopause, (between 3-4 years), as levels of estrogen drop and propel changes in systems that control dopamine, and serotonin, making women more likely to have mood swings. Stress hormones such as cortisol [...]
“Why am I staying in an unhappy relationship?” is a question many of my patient’s ask themselves out loud when their latest interactions make them feel hopeless, demeaned, and destroyed. Staying in an unhappy relationship has benefits, keeping you drawn in by a magnetic force. That force is produced by unfinished phases of personal [...]
Three Impediments to Discussing Divorce With Young Children, and a Three Step Process to do it Well Discussing divorce with young children is probably every parent’s worst nightmare. All the promises you made yourself when you first embarked on the parenthood journey crumble into dust, making you feel like a failure. Discussing divorce with [...]
Three Ways a Relationship Crisis Benefits Communication, Intimacy and Self-care The very term relationship crisis makes your heart stop, your blood pressure sky rocket and a flood of adrenalin preparing you for fight/flight/or freeze. It’s unpleasant and threatening. Most of us want to avoid a relationship crisis and do everything we can to avoid [...]
How to Avoid Burdening Children With Family Conflict Most parents make conscious decisions to avoid burdening their children with stuff from the adult world. Most parents try hard to protect their children from being negatively influenced and or scarred by things in the outside world including social media, porn, drugs, bullies, inappropriate videos and [...]
Seven Ways to Say, “I love you,” and Six Ways That Fail. “I love you!” says your partner as they go off to get on with their day. “Love you” says your mom as you end a phone conversation and you say it back. Do you feel loved in that moment? Are you experiencing loving [...]
Three Crucial Ways to Feeling Loved in a Pandemic Feeling loved in a pandemic is problematic when there is more pressure on partners to make each feel valued when the world feels so unpredictable. Scared that her family may become infected with Covid-19, Claire a 35-year-old optometrist was extra careful about cleaning everything before it [...]
Marriage After Infidelity You are stunned, disoriented and your whole world has shattered. You can’t believe that your partner cheated on you and lied to you about the affair. You want to throw the cheater into an incinerator together with the disgust, betrayal and rejection. But there is another part of you that wonders if [...]
Emotional Safety is Key in Relationships Emotional Safety Quiz Do find yourself holding back, choosing your words carefully, and or shutting your feelings down because you fear recrimination? Then you probably have little sense of emotional safety. Maybe you agree with your significant other more often than not, because it's not emotionally safe to [...]
