Are you overwhelmed by the same conflict, the never-ending pattern of distress, and the piles of damage built up in your relationship with your intimate partner? To those of you who are so beat up you're feeling as if no amount of counseling or change in your significant other could bring your relationship back to the place it needs to be, maybe the answer isn't more effort or energy (right now), and maybe the answer isn't to leave (right now). Maybe the answer is to wait. An

I feel like I've told him a million times that these things bother me, I've tried dropping hints, shown my frustration, and even downright gotten MAD, but still, nothing seems to change in our relationship. "Where do these behaviors come from?" you may be asking. Or, "Will they ever stop?" "Why doesn't he understand what this does to me?" If you have ever asked yourself the above questions or others on the topic of this common relationship mystery (why/how my partner got to b

Relationships aren't meant to be confining. They aren't meant to make us feel like we have to "walk on egg shells" or that we need to "act a certain way" in order to pease our partner, or worse, to simply to maintain normalcy in the relationship. The goal for any relationship, rather, is to create an environment where each person feels free, (like the hit, 2003-release Jessica Simpson song lyrics) "I can let my hair down." To those of you who haven't experienced the joys of s

As we attempt to repair, reconnect, and make sense of "what just happened" following a fight, we are often flooded with questions like: "What will come next for us as a couple?" "What does this conflict mean about our relationship?" and "Will we ever be the same again?" If you have questions about why you and your partner are fighting and are looking for help in understanding what's gone wrong, consider the following questions in better understanding the root of your couple c

Black and white thinking, also known as "either/or" thinking, serves us well when we are first establishing an understanding of the world and the way things work. When we are toddlers, for example, categorizing things, such as shapes and colors, allows us to establish an organized process by which we are able to learn more quickly and efficiently about an individual subject and, thus, its related co-subjects. The better we are able to master this skill and carry it through to

While it is often thought of as common practice to tell "little white lies" or occasionally leave out details that would reveal whole truths about ourselves or something we have done, there may actually be some drawbacks to the larger-scale practice of withholding information. Top 3 Ways a Life of Secrecy May Be Ruining Your Intimacy 1) The Exhaustion of Upholding: Although secrets can be alluring and sometimes even exciting at first, secrets can turn into a full time job if

For those of you who have ever been in a relationship where you believed yourself or your partner to be "co-dependent," it is far more likely that your relationship problems were/are due to something else. "Dependent Personality Disorder," as it is labeled in the DSM-V is extremely rare, occurring in only 0.49% of the population. So, chances are neither you or your partner would likely meet the criteria for the diagnosis, but that's not to say you and/or your partner didn't b