Want your holiday season to stay merry and bright this year? Here's a basic rule to keep in mind: Make sure you and your spouse are on the same page when it comes to the big topics!  By "big topics," I really mean any issue that has the potential to be a major source of stress for you and your partner. And really, take your pick: between work and social commitments, family schedules, finances, gr ..read more

Ever heard the saying, "If it's too good to be true, it probably is"? This is exactly the case when it comes to love bombing, a term that the Cleveland Clinic refers to as "a form of psychological and emotional abuse [that] is often disguised as excessive flattery." In this article, you'll learn more about what love bombing is, what it looks like within a relationship, and how to deal with it. W ..read more

Infatuation vs genuine feelings of love: think you can spot the difference? If you're in the newest stages of a relationship, this actually might be hard to do! But being able to recognize the difference between these two opposing emotional states can be helpful for making sure you're entering (and staying in) a relationship with someone for the right reasons. What Am I Really Feeling? Some Quick ..read more

You hear it all the time (and maybe you've even lived it yourself): A person dates (and breaks up with) the same type of person over and over again. They always seem to enter relationships with people who aren't "right" for them, or who exhibit traits—particularly negative ones—that are eerily similar to traits exhibited by prior partners. Try as they might, they just can't seem to help b ..read more

Maybe you don't get offended easily. If so, kudos! Or maybe... You already know you get offended easily (even if it's just about one specific topic or issue), and it's something you're ready to address You suspect you're more sensitive than others and wonder whether there's something you can do about it You've never considered that your short fuse is a personal hiccup that might be holding you ..read more

I love the paradigm that a healthy marriage doesn't require 50/50 from both partners—it requires 100/100. This means that each partner gives their best effort to help the relationship to thrive. Now, this doesn't mean our 100% effort will be the exact same moment to moment and day to day. We can't always "crush it," simply because our best efforts change depending on innumerable factors—fr ..read more

Do things feel heavy to you right now? They do for me, too. When so many difficult issues are going on in the world—including the environment, Afghanistan, politics, COVID-1, and the mental health crisis—it can sometimes feel like you're shouldering these burdens on your own. And even with a supportive spouse, it can be tricky figuring out how to create healthy conversations about these tou ..read more

Social media is definitely a double-edged sword. On the one hand, social media helps us connect to loved ones, expand our social and professional networks, share information, and discover new products, brands, and ideas that we may never have found otherwise. On the other hand, social media has been linked to destructive feelings like loneliness, narcissism, and low self-esteem. For the romanti ..read more

A "sexless marriage" can mean different things to different couples. But what all sexless marriages have in common is a lack of physical intimacy that leaves one or both partners feeling alienated, unsatisfied, and disconnected.  The feeling of disconnect is key. After all, a lack of sex is not necessarily a problem if both partners aren't bothered by it. But when lack of sexual intimacy be ..read more

The introvert falls for the extrovert. The one who loves to save marries the one who loves to shop. The "glass half full" kind of person finds their "glass half empty" partner. Are these relationships destined to thrive—or doomed to fail? When Opposites Attract Magnets—sure. But as far as human relationships go, the idea that "opposites attract" seems to be little more than an interestin ..read more