Improve Communication

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

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

People-pleasing is often so unconscious that we don’t know we’re damaging our relationships. Here’s why it’s important to recognize and stop it…

Annette was stuck. She felt like she’d been a pushover all her life in her family growing up and now it was the same with her new husband. In the past, when she’d tried to stand up for herself, she felt like she either came

Monica silently ground her teeth as she once again tried to please everyone in her family and believe that inner voice that shamed her if she didn’t. Her thoughts ran something like this… “I should take dinner to my mom because she’s lonely.” “I should

Incompatibility interferes with most relationships at one time or another but what is it really? One of Susie’s coaching clients had a beautiful insight after one of our coaching sessions that nailed it in our opinion… “I’ve been thinking a lot yesterday about incompatibility as

When you hit a solid wall of a difference of opinion with someone, it’s very easy to lapse into old habits and ways of trying to make your point that haven’t worked in the past. You might… –Spew out a lot of words and reasons

Expectations–We all have them. We have expectations of ourselves that can sound limiting like this… –“I could never do that! That’s above my paygrade!” Or our expectations of ourselves can run on the positive side like this… –“Doing that will be a piece of cake