The average American loves taking vacations. Unfortunately, most of us can only get away once a year. Taking a vacation with your partner is simply not an option. You need the time away from the stress of everyday life at least once a year, if not twice. I’d like to share the top reasons why […]
We enter into relationships for a variety of reasons – companionship, love, and to be part of a family are just a few. Healthy happy marriages actually bring a lot of benefits to the couple, benefits that single people could not even imagine. If you’re married, think about whether or not you can relate to […]
Perhaps you have wondered if you or maybe your partner may have an anxiety disorder. There are several different types of anxiety. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder results after someone has been exposed to a traumatic experience. Panic Disorder causes people feel symptoms of panic that come out of the blue. Generalized Anxiety causes people to […]
Marriage counseling can be a deeply personal experience for some people so placing trust in a marriage counselor can be difficult. Marriage counselors that are based around a religious community – for example, Christian Marriage Counseling – are often able to overcome that barrier. For these individuals, nothing is as deeply personal as their religion, […]
Chances are we all know someone who has struggled with depression at some time in their life. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, major depression affects about 6.7 % of the US adult population in a given year. You may know someone who is struggling with depression, and this person could even be […]
Anxiety is one of the most common hidden problems in US households. We all suffer from anxiety to some extent and that is a healthy state. However, some people live a life in which anxiety is ever present. These are the people who seem to live with a sense of doom, or who suffer panic […]
Parenting can be a source of conflict for lots of couples. Many couples disagree on discipline practices with their children. When one parent is stricter and the other parents wants to be more laid back, this can be frustrating not only for the couple, but also the children. Maybe you agree on the big issues […]
It’s Monday night. You and your partner are sitting on the couch, unwinding after a long day. The kids are asleep, and you have the next two hours to spend together. Instead, you’re streaming Netflix on your TV, your eyes are fixated on your laptop, and you’re compulsively checking your phone every two minutes for […]
It’s a common scenario seen in marriage counselor offices across the country: differences in spending habits. One partner saves and the other spends. Disagreements over money can cause stress, conflict, tension, and a negative home environment. Furthermore, in the United States, finances are also a major cause of divorce. So how do you protect your […]
When most people get married they go on a honeymoon – supposedly to get to know one another. These days, couples often know each other very well. Many having lived together before the wedding. When we talk about a marriage’s “honeymoon period”, we are talking well beyond the actual honeymoon. The ‘honeymoon period’ can last […]
There are few relationships that are really perfect; in fact, most relationships go through their ups and down. Some relationships seem to go through the extremes. One moment they are quite happy, and the next, one member is walking out, either ‘going back home to mom’ or ‘spending the night in town’. These are the […]
Sitcoms have made fun of these situations for years – yet for families, the effect of an older relative moving in can be a real test of marriage. Older relatives, normally one of your parents, often come to stay because they are having difficulties caring for themselves. The early days can be particularly stressful as […]
Conflict is all around us all the time. No marriage is devoid of conflict, although some marriages seem to have more conflict situations than others. If conflict is getting out of hand, there are several things you can do to calm those waters. As a couple, it’s often a good idea to discuss these and […]
You’ve decorated the nursery, picked out a name, and are headed home from the hospital. You’re parents. Life will never be the same, and though the addition of a newborn is exciting and full of joy, it can also be overwhelming and downright stressful (trust me–I have a 7 month old)! How do you keep […]
Research shows that the probability of someone having an affair in a relationship is very high (between 40 and 76 percent in one study). With almost half of all relationships involving infidelity, you may be wondering what to do after such an incidence occurs. First, you have to decide if you are going to tell […]
For some people, work is their life. For others, work is just a necessarily evil, undertaken so they can pay their mortgage and put food on the table. In some cases, the culture of their workplace can have a serious impact on their home life, particularly their marriage. A hundred years ago, things were different. […]
You may wonder how pre-marriage counseling can save a marriage if the couple are not yet married – but it does. Statistics show that where couples have engaged in pre-marriage counseling, their failure rates are almost half the national average. That’s a huge drop in failure rates, but then, if you consider some of the […]
There are three phases to starting counseling – deciding you need family counseling, finding a family counselor, and making it to the first session. Each phase has hurdles that need to be crossed, and each phase offers opportunities for families to back out. Finding a family counselor is perhaps one of the easiest phases, yet […]
Many people confuse ‘loving’ someone with being ‘in love’. I know that many would claim that they are the same thing. In reality, they are not. You love your parents, your children, and your pet dog, for example – but you’re not ‘in love’ with them. Counselors will often describe being in love as being […]
Successful marriages don’t happen by accident. But how much work do these couples put into making their marriages successful? The easiest way to find out is to read their stories, perhaps ask them a question or two. But here’s the rub – can they teach you anything? The science of counseling has developed over the […]
