10 easy tips for fair fighting will simplify and calm the way you respond to conflict. Having a few ready-made tools can improve your success in navigating those dreaded heated moments with your partner. Being mindful, factual, and empathic are just a few of the basic skills that deescalate potentially problematic interactions. It’s never too […]
Arguments as Opportunities for Intimacy and Empathy in Your Relationship
Many couples find themselves repeating the same fight. The patterns become habitual and ineffective ways of meeting needs and resolving conflict. But what if couples hit the pause button and first determined their goal? Before responding to your partner consider this, “What is most important to me? Is it the quality of this relationship or […]
5 Easy Tips to Strengthen Your Marriage
In this blog written by Heather Edwards, LMHC and Mark Banschick, MD originally published in Psychology Today, five simple tips are offered to breathe new energy into your marriage. It’s Time to Kick-Start Your Marriage: It’s easy to get caught up in work, childcare, managing your home, and keeping up with bills. The day to […]
Transition to the Five-to-One Ratio
The following is from the book “Fire Up Your Communication Skills” (ISBN 09657620-6- 8) by Fire “Captain Bob” Smith. He is a recognized expert and speaker/author on stress, communication and relationship skills. He is a humorist, coach, entrepreneur and frequent talk show guest. He also produces customized presentations for career and personal growth. To book […]
Critiquing “Hope Springs”: Find out what you won’t learn about couples’ counseling and sex therapy from the movie.
The following review has been written from the perspective of a sex therapist, Dr. Barbara Bartlik, MD (http://drbarbaramd.com/) and Gary Krane, PhD, co-founder of couplewise.com. The recently released movie, “Hope Springs,” depicts couples’ counseling and in a sensitive and realistic manner, providing viewers with a glimpse of what couples’ therapy actually is like. In addition, […]
Bids for Emotional Connection in Couples Therapy by Dr. Dan Wile, PhD, danwile.com
Intro by Gary Krane The following brilliant essay is by Dr. Dan Wile, a therapist whom the eminent Dr. John Gottman calls, “a genius and the greatest living marital therapist [in America].” The essay is a highly sophisticated analysis of what Gottman calls “Bids,” or what we at couplewise.com know as actions that meet our […]
What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage – by Amy Sutherland, New York Times
What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage By AMY SUTHERLAND New York Times As I wash dishes at the kitchen sink, my husband paces behind me, irritated. “Have you seen my keys?” he snarls, then huffs out a loud sigh and stomps from the room with our dog, Dixie, at his heels, anxious […]
“Two Classes, Divided by ‘I Do’” by Jason DeParle, New York Times
Two Classes, Divided by ‘I Do’ By JASON DePARLE ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Jessica Schairer has so much in common with her boss, Chris Faulkner, that a visitor to the day care center they run might get them confused. They are both friendly white women from modest Midwestern backgrounds who left for college with conventional hopes […]
REPORT: “What Works in Marriage and Relationship Education?”
If anyone still has doubts that short-term, inexpensive, skill-building, educational interventions can be powerfully effective in improving and even saving marriages, we at couplewise.com believe you will find this read a powerful inspiration. Give it read and post a comment or two. Start by clicking the image below. Don’t forget to come back and comment. […]
Marital Therapy May Increase Sex
Posted by Sharon Jackson A U.S. survey of counseling professionals recently found that the top reason couples fight is not about sex and money, but that neither partner feels important or valued by the other. The survey, “Marital Therapy May Increase Sex.” Dr. Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D [Marriage and Family therapist] has this to say about […]
