So many times, couples counseling focuses on the negative. Instead, we choose to build on the strengths of your relationship. Which of the following do you see as a strength of your relationship and why? We share feelings and understand each other. We are able to discuss and resolve differences. We appreciate each other’s personality…
Read MoreMonth: September 2010
Happy couples argue.
What’s important is how you go about it. Among couples with lasting marriages… About 80% of complaints came from wives. However, they raised issues gently and brought them up sooner rather than later. In addition, husbands were willing to be influenced by their wives and to change their behavior. Neither spouse became upset enough with…
Read MoreHappy couples respond positively to one another.
Partners continually make “bids” for each other’s attention, closeness, and reassurance through comments, questions, and/or gestures. In successful marriages, spouses responded positively to these bids 86% of the time. Through their words and their actions, they invited more connection. They communicated (with or without words), “You matter to me,” and “I want to connect with…
Read MoreAnd They Lived Happily Ever After
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” … So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh….
Read MorePredicting Divorce
We know that the first marriage wasn’t always a Garden-of-Eden experience, right? The first couple had their share of problems (see Genesis 3 and beyond), and contemporary couples do, too. It usually doesn’t take long for couples to figure out that marriage is challenging, if not down right difficult at times. In fact, the number…
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