You may think that learning to say “No” is a simple matter. But this is not necessarily true. We usually expect our partner to respond to requests pretty quickly after we make them. What we often don’t realise is that some requests are not so simple Read More
Communication
12 May Is your relationship charge gone?
Is your relationship charge gone? You've probably not been taught that relationships require an ongoing investment of attention, time and energy to maintain and enhance their vitality. Relationships are like gardens - they are living Read More
23 Jan 10 Minute Relationship Miracle
There is a secret behind the 10 minute relationship miracle. This touching email describes the pain that many people experience when they feel disconnected from their partner: “I get the feeling that my partner is becoming emotionally distant. Read More
06 Sep I Love You But I’m Not In Love With You
I love you but I’m not in love with you. I can’t tell you how frequently I hear these words in my relationship counselling practice! I understand them to mean something like: “Is this relationship really over or does my unhappiness mean that Read More
17 Jul Re-create Your Relationship Vision
Can you re-create your relationship vision once your relationship has lost its energy? Can you get the energy and juice back? Yes, you can. Creating a shared vision helps you regain control of your own story. It helps you re-focus on working Read More
16 Dec Surviving Christmas as a Couple
Christmas time can be a stressful time for couples. Making joint plans for surviving Christmas ahead of time may help you fill this supposedly joyful season with maximum love and minimum heartache. This post is adapted from Shannon McKeogh. Read More
28 Jun Avoiding disagreements hurts your relationship
Sorry to bring you bad news. But what I’ve learned from doing counselling for over 30 years, backed by research from the Gottman Institute, is that constant efforts aimed at avoiding disagreements hurts your relationship. A lot! The Gottman Read More
29 Apr It takes teamwork to manage emotional pain
Relationships are emotional bonds and disruptions to those bonds lead to emotional pain. It takes teamwork to manage emotional pain. Most important, feelings like love, joy and happiness as well as anxiety, anger and pain may arise at any time. We Read More
30 Mar Nurture Your Relationship
Spending couple time together and doing things to nurture your relationship is very important. This is what the Gottmans call putting deposits into your emotional bank account. Just like a bank account, if you’ve made regular deposits, when an Read More
24 Jan Relationship peace and contentment
Welcome to our first Newsletter for 2019. I hope you've had a peaceful and love-filled time over the festive season. January is a time when many people reflect on the past year and what you'd like to do differently this year. It's often a Read More