What is biology doing in relationships?

Would you like to get a cup of coffee? That moment when he first walked over to me, my heart was pounding. I can still see myself all of these years later. I think I may have blushed. He leaned forward and asked if I would like to get a cup of coffee. We had […]

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What was it like when you were a child during the pandemic?

I imagine today’s generation of young people being asked this question by their children in the next generation. This is a historic moment, one that will be a point of demarcation, like the race riots of the 60’s, the assassinations of pivotal men, the Great Depression, and the 2008 Recession. We will look back and […]

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What’s the difference between verbal abuse and just being “blunt”?

Just mean or “no filter?” Has someone ever said something incredibly insulting to you and when you became offended, they (or someone else), said that person was either “blunt,” “a straight shooter,” or “tells it like it is”?  While there are people that seemingly have what is referred to as “no filter,” there is also […]

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The Micro Losses

Huh, maybe we are grieving losses. Recently, I got together with a therapist friend, (indoors, at a restaurant, both of us fully vaccinated!), to catch up. Eventually, we came around to how we were doing with the pandemic. We reported similar experiences: we were both weary, more tired, general enthusiasm for life was low, motivation […]

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The Problem with Punishment

Breaking the Cycle of Punishment and Fear: Teaching Children to Problem Solve There are two big problems with punishing children.  First, it is a bad model for problem-solving.  It does not actually teach a person anything, and most likely instills fear and resentment.  The purpose of punishment is to control someone’s behavior.  When we use […]

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Millennials: Marriage Masters

Millennials are mastering marriage better than their parents.

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Celebrating Her!

Women’s Month March is identified as Women’s Month, a month designated in our calendar year to give extra attention to amazing, warrior women who have contributed to changing our world. While this month will honor and celebrate magnificent ladies, sharing their stories and highlighting their achievements there are so many others who will remain in […]

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Making Effective Requests In Your Relationship

“Expectations are agreements we never made.” Unmet expectations are one of the great banes of intimate relationships. Any two people can have such different understandings about what constitutes a request that it’s no wonder the couples counseling business is booming. When I was a management consultant, I once asked a roomful of executives and their […]

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Keeping the Love You Find

You may have heard of the Imago relationship couples workshop: Getting the Love You Want. But did you know that there is an Imago workshop for individuals, too? All of us got to adulthood with our very own unique baggage. We have filled it along the way with the unmet needs of childhood, our lost […]

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Can You Say I’m Sorry?

Do you know how to apologize meaningfully when you have made a mistake or hurt someone — intentionally or unintentionally? Most of us growing up did not see good models of healthy apologies to repair ruptures and restore relational trust and safety. Some of us were forced to say we were sorry when we weren’t. […]

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