Improve Communication

When you or your partner is stonewalling, what’s REALLY going on and how do you stop it from ruining your relationship? Here’s a question about stonewalling we got awhile ago… “If your partner isn’t into self-help (books, videos, articles) and stonewalls me every time I […]

Recently I had a burst of insight… I was in the middle of one of my “I-know-what’s-right-for-Otto” thoughts as he was telling me a plan he was hatching… And just as quickly, another thought came rushing in… “Oh, wait a minute! Otto’s idea may be

Suddenly she got quiet. Then she got curious. Her name is Rebecca and she is a smart, funny, intelligent, budding marathon runner and I didn’t mean to make her upset. I just wanted to show her how she was lying to herself and didn’t even

Something happened to me at the car wash last weekend that that made me think I was going a little crazy. What happened, which I’ll share in a second, was so eye-opening about just how easy and how often we get something wrong that we

Who’s to blame or the “problem” in your relationship? Is it you? Your partner? Your in-laws? Something or someone else? If you’re like most people, your answer is probably pretty quick and definite… When you are having challenges in your relationship or marriage, it’s pretty

One of the most common problems in relationships is something so simple, yet can be so difficult at the same time. It’s the ability to say “no” without feeling like you are “hurting” the other person–and being okay with it without all the guilt that

A bad mood, especially when it happens a lot, can threaten the health of any relationship. Here are a couple of instances that show common ways most of us deal with this in our partner… A few days ago Sarah came into the kitchen where

If you read Otto’s story called “Recovered from Rage,” you saw how his anger used to get lit very easily when he thought he was being controlled or wouldn’t get his needs met. He also explained what he learned that changed him from occasionally explosively

Everyone agrees… Communicating in ways that bring you and your spouse or partner closer together is a good thing. Communicating in ways that make the important people in your life want to spend more time with you is always something you should want… AND… Communicating

Being critical is a habit and a coping strategy, usually learned early on. For some reason, it just becomes natural for many of us to criticize, especially those we love, usually in the guise of “helping” them be better. (Translate that to doing what we