Archive for January, 2011


Bringing Fun Back Into Your Marriage

Here is a question for all married people – do you still have fun in your marriage? It’s a simple question, but perhaps I’ll make it a little harder – when was the last time you had fun in your marriage? And by the way, I don’t mean sex. By fun, I mean a good […]

How To Say No Without Destroying A Relationship

Whether you are in a new relationship or a long-term relationship (especially marriage), being able to say no without guilt is important to your own well being as well as the well being of your relationship. In the past, it was not acceptable for a wife to say no. Over the years, things have changed, […]

Is Your Partner Really Being Negative?

“I give my partner a compliment and they brush it aside.” Does that sound familiar? You may feel they are being negative, however, there are a lot of people in this world who find it hard to receive compliments. I’ll go further: There are a lot of people who find it hard to accept love! […]

How To Say You’re Sorry When You’ve Hurt Your Spouse

We often look at marriage problems from the perspective of the aggrieved partner. But what about the partner who has caused the pain? How do they say they are sorry; that the marriage is worth saving; and that they want to save it? Often, the aggrieved partner is feeling hurt, the trust is gone, and […]

The Key Elements To Successful Self Help Marriage Therapy

There are several very good self help marriage tools available today, but they are not necessarily the answer to every marriage in trouble. There are several elements that need to be present before any self help program can work. When it comes to marriage therapy, these elements need to be present in both partners. If […]

The Art Of Balancing Diplomacy And Honesty

There are a lot of factors that go into making a successful relationship. Communication is one factor that is extremely important. In fact, it forms the base for many of the other factors. One aspect of communication is knowing what to say and when to say it. You can look at this as being a […]

How Do You Define A Healthy Marriage?

You can go to the doctor to determine your own health. You can take your car to a mechanic to check its health status. But what about your marriage? How do you check its health status? In fact, what defines a healthy marriage? The University of Maryland has put together an extensive list of the […]

Why Online Counseling Is So Effective

Every marriage goes through rough patches. Often all that is needed is some friendly advice on how to deal with the issue at hand. In many cases, couples steer their way through the problem with no outside help at all. Online counseling has proven to be effective for a number of reasons. First, it is […]

Is Your Partner Your Best Friend?

One of the most important aspects of any relationship, particularly a marriage, is friendship. When you look at your partner, can you say they are your best friend? Can you confide all your fears to them, talk about them, and perhaps work together to resolve them? There are often times when third parties are our […]

Office Romances Can Ruin More Than A Marriage

Do office romances destroy marriages? Often, they don’t. What destroys a marriage is breaking off an office romance. When an office romance comes to an end, there is often tension in the workplace, especially if one person has broken off the relationship against the wishes of the other. This tension often boils over and effects […]

Preventing A Long Term Marriage From Breaking Up

Why are we seeing more long term marriages falling apart? Any ideas? There are many reasons why a long term marriage falls apart, but in most cases what we haven’t seen is the marriage slowly breaking down. Couples, especially those with children or professional reputations to consider, can be very adept at hiding what is […]

When Did You Last Review Your Priorities?

This may sound like a strange question when it comes to relationships and marriages – but when did you last review your priorities? If I asked you to write down your priorities for this year, what would be on your list? It’s very rare to see any reference to a marriage or relationship in a […]

The Secret of Happily Married Couples

Do you want to get 2011 off on the right foot? Want to feel more deeply in love and have the marriage you dream about? In less time that it takes to brush your teeth, you can watch, The Most Important Lesson. In this video, you’ll learn: The secret of happily married couples How to […]

Knowing When To Quit Your Marriage

Our recent posts have been very much on the positive side of saving marriages. If you read them, you will notice there is one thread that is common to all of them – and that is that a marriage can only be saved if both partners really commit to saving that marriage. There’s a sad […]

There’s Nothing Wrong With Your Marriage

There are times when a counselor will tell a couple there is nothing wrong with their marriage. The initial reaction is one of disbelief. Just because you feel your marriage is breaking down doesn’t mean it is. The fact you are both talking to a marriage counselor is often testament to that. Before I upset […]

Which Marriages Are Worth Saving?

One of the questions many couples ask, or at least one half of a couple ask, is whether or not their marriage is worth saving. There is a relatively easy answer to that question. Imagine how your relationship was to begin with – do you want that back? If the answer is yes then in […]

Where Has My Marriage Gone Wrong?

The number one question asked of counselors – where has my marriage gone wrong? We wish the answer was as simple as the question. Marriages can go wrong for a lot of reasons. One reason that is hard to fathom is the cop out answer – “we weren’t right for each other”. I call that […]

Online Therapy For Families Split By Distance

We live in a world where families can be split by wide distances. Mom may be at home with a couple of school age children. The eldest child may be away at college, and dad may be off working in some remote corner of the world. Long distance families are difficult to maintain although they […]

Is Your Partner Married To Their Job?

One of the most common complaints that marriage counselors hear is that a partner spends more time at work than they do in the home. While most people do spend more time at work than with their families, there is a difference between ‘normal’ working hours, and extended working hours. If you sleep for the […]

What’s The Most Important Word In Any Relationship?

We enter into a lot of relationships in our lives, not just those related to romance. Almost every relationship, including those involving romance, rely on one single word for survival. That word? Trust. While many people would consider love the most important word in a marriage, no one has ever been able to really define […]