Commitment is one of the pillars of a healthy relationship. Yet, when one or both partners feel hesitant or resistant to commit, it can lead to confusion, doubt, and tension. If you or your partner are struggling with commitment, it doesn’t always mean the relationship is doomed. Instead, it can signal deeper concerns that are ..read more

Relationships are complex and meaningful, and when they end, the emotional toll can feel overwhelming. Whether it’s a long-term partnership or a relatively brief connection, healing from the end of a relationship requires both time and intentional effort. Here’s a compassionate approach to healing from the end of a relationship that can help you rediscover ..read more

The holiday season is meant to be a time of joy and togetherness, but for many couples, it can also be a source of stress. Between juggling family obligations, financial pressures, and busy schedules, it’s easy for tensions to rise. While some stress is normal, too much of it can create friction in even the ..read more

Helpful traits in a supportive partner  Engagement and availability: Responding to your partner and their needs and encouraging their progress and evolution. Hurtful Traits in relationships  Damaging presence: Behaviors such as meddling, restricting, intimidating and manipulating. What happens in healthy relationships? Growing and evolving as a person, becoming increasingly more comfortable in one’s own skin, addressing challenging ..read more

Along with the joy, sadness, anger, grief, satisfaction and various other states that make our sense of being lies the often-neglected sense of eroticism. What is it? Simply put, it is the sense of aliveness and vitality, curiosity and interest, push and pull of the engagement in life. Eroticism is pleasure and pain, relief and stress. It is also the cerebral processing – the thoughts, emotions, and fantasies – of sexuality. It is our way of experiencing and understanding aliveness and sensuality in the context of our inner worlds by using the information and experiences we have on hand, in an ..read more

What’s the big deal? Despite being a core tenant of any and all relationships, many struggle with giving and receiving apologies. At its core, an apology is a statement of remorse that acknowledges the harm caused and attempts to restore the respect lost as a result of an offense. This skill is an integral part of relationship building with each other, ourselves, and the community at large. As we age, sometimes we are captivated by the fantasy of always being right; after all, the idea that right equals reward has been ingrained. However, apologies threaten this illusion of control, shaming u ..read more

You’ve been duped. Perhaps your partner strayed from the relationship. Perhaps it was you who strayed. Either way, your romantic life is not progressing as you anticipated, and pulling the plug seems more appealing by the minute. After all, a breakup would help end the pain, heartbreak, and cuts that only seem to get deeper with time. However, it’s possible to heal not only your relationship with your partner but also your relationship with yourself. The Exemplification of Betrayal Consider Anne and Jacob. After 16 years of marriage, Anne learned that Jacob had affairs with more than a dozen ..read more

Love is a wonderful thing. But what if it’s not really that easy? What if you feel affection for multiple people? That’s a tricky predicament to be in. You might be feeling conflicted about which one to pick, especially if one of them is currently your partner. We’ll go over strategies to decide what to do next, but the choice is ultimately up to you.   Process your feelings You must first assess your true feelings for these two persons. If you believe you are in love with someone, you must determine how it is manifesting. Ask yourself honestly: is it love in both cases, or is one of the ..read more

“You are the love of my life.” “I can’t take this anymore.” These are not uncommon statements within one and the same relationship. We may find certain aspects of our partner very difficult to live with, and we may have traits that our partner finds difficult to live with. The term Relational Ambivalence refers to contradictory thoughts and feelings for the same person. Feelings of pleasure and panic, affection and loathing, hatred and desire all felt towards one person create Relational Ambivalence. In the case of family relationships with parents and siblings we may feel a genetic, forever ..read more

Sexting refers to sexual messages over text. They may be implicit or explicit, written or photographs. They may be flirtatious and edgy or direct and sexual/erotic. They are intended as flirty play that may or may not lead to an in-person sexual encounter.   How would you handle it if you found explicit messages on your partner’s phone and realized that they were sexting someone else? Is it okay to sext with someone who isn’t your steady partner?   For some, sexting is clearly cheating; for some, it is acceptable as long as there is no in person encounter. Sometimes boundaries in rel ..read more