Healing from heartbreak is painful. Extremely painful in fact. The longer you were with your significant other, the harder it feels to heal from the loss. You may never feel ready to grieve, but it is a requirement in order for you to move forward. Grieving is a normal part of being human as much as creating something anew.

We all have experienced shame, either by self-shaming, being shamed by someone, or guiltily shaming others regardless of whether it’s our intention or not. In short, in the presence of shame, everyone gets hurt. Shame tends to happen when one partner feels ignored, unheard, dismissed, and/or unappreciated, which affects their views of self (“I’m not important to you” or “I don’t matter at all”).

It’s common for partners to move from periods of being drawn to sex to periods of feeling less excited, and sometimes avoidant, towards sex given how many different life circumstances and life transitions you face. Oftentimes, this difficulty in rekindling the spark for your spouse can be addressed effectively in therapy.

You have been hurt by the presence of infidelity in your relationship. This breach of trust could have happened a long time ago. It could have happened last year or you could have just discovered it this week. What matters most is that it hurts like hell and that you feel like things are falling apart, you are falling apart.

When a relationship is in trouble, couples face a few choices: a. Keep going and live with the relationship as is or b. End the relationship. What you may not know is that there is a third option. You do not have to keep going and live with the relationship as is while resentment and disappointment pile up.

“Conflict is bad for marriage. If we fight a lot, that means we’re not compatible.” This very narrative has set many couples up for marriage dissatisfaction from the get go. Conflict is neither good nor bad. And in many instances, conflict can be a good thing. Why?

Pursuers tend to lean more on the anxious attachment style: You tend to feel more anxious about what could go wrong in the relationship. When you bring something up to your partner’s attention, you want to get it done right and while it’s still hot because you feel worried that nothing will change if you don’t actively address it.

With the traditional in person therapy setting, you are expected to be more formal. By that I mean you may dress up more, leave whatever you’re doing to make time for driving, meet with your therapist to talk about your relationship concerns in a designated amount of time, and then depart till another week or so.

There is no shame for you or for any of us to admit that you struggle in your marriage. There is no such thing as a problem-proof relationship. If you expect your relationship to be smooth sailing, you may fall hard when it isn’t. What you see as a “problem” in your marriage is also a door for new opportunities

Building a relationship takes hard work. Structuring an interracial marriage adds its own twists and flavors to the existing challenge. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by the demand of picking and choosing which cultural values that you and your spouse must compromise over for the life of your marriage, you are not alone.

Stress is your #1 enemy, not your in-laws. It can cause you and your in-laws to feel like you’re working against each other. A “perfect” wedding often comes with a great amount of stress and most of us, including me, do not realize how much anxiety we accumulate during the wedding preparation.

In my clinical experience, one of the most daunting consequences of sexual trauma is the feeling of loneliness that lingers even after the abuse is over. Some people refer to this feeling of loneliness as “the void,” an emotional vault that no matter what they do, stays… empty.

It is the uncertainty that family members, especially stepchildren, experience due to not knowing who should be included or excluded in the new family structure. This type of boundary setting is not clear cut because it is not defined by household arrangement or biological relationship.

What is your level of confidence in managing your money? Do you feel determined to grab it by the horns or are you fearful and avoidant when you’re around it? Today, I want to share with you the 6 different types of money personalities; they’re the force behind our financial instinct.

I love talking about money with my spouse, even early on in our relationship. Though, many times, it did not go as well as I planned because my husband is a withdrawer and I am a pursuer when it comes to financial planning. So, if you find yourself and your partner stumbling along on a similar road, you’re not alone. My family has been there.

One common idea that can come up when discussing polyamory is “I didn’t sign up for this when I married you.” This may sound argumentative but being able to speak the truth may help start the healing process. You see, our guts feelings often tell us that we are not built or ready to commit to a certain thing.

We are afraid of being seen as the “bad guy” in our partner’s eyes. We are afraid that they may stop loving us because we say “no” to things that we are not comfortable doing. There are many reasons why people feel hesitant or neglect boundary setting with their significant other.