Compassion is Good Self Care
He was beside himself. At four in the morning, Steve got a call from the police. His wife was out cold behind the steering wheel of her car which was that close to being completely wrapped around a tree. He could feel his breath come in short spurts. He was expecting...
Should Therapists Challenge Their Clients?
Suppose a client walks into a therapist's office every week for a month and each time, he has a spot on his shirt. He is down and out, looking for a job and can't get one. Should the therapist: tell him flat out that he has spots on his clothes? ignore the spots as if...
How Would You Like To Be In Love For Life?
According to researchers - who've spent their entire careers studying romantic love and passion - it is possible! The researchers studied the brains of couples who were married at least 10 years. They completed all kinds of self-report tests, looked at pictures of...
Abusers Are Hurt People
I Look Abusers In The Eye I tell them what's what. With love. Because they're not inherently evil. We're going to take a peek into little Randy's house. Randy is four years old. His three-year-old sister just got a gift from a doting aunt. It was a sweet-faced doll....
The Most Important Part Of A Great Marriage
My dissertation took forever. Being slightly -- only slightly, mind you -- OCD, I had to do the most thorough job of research ever. It actually was about 8 years. Well, I had little kids; sue me. Anyway, when I was all done, I had this stack of transcripts in my hand...
Why Did I Fall In Love With Someone With The Same Problem?
"George was the Pitts. Always arguing. Always had to be Right. Could not allow my point of view, ever. So annoying. So frustrating. I'm ready to Scream when I think of George.So I left him. Good riddance. Lucky I didn't have kids but if I did, I would have taken them...
Okay, I lied. I Cheated. Can We Move On?
When your spouse finally learns that you've caught him or her cheating - in one way or another - what's the usual reaction? They get defensive. They cover it up. They minimize it. And they're not the ones reading this post. You are. The one that got cheated on. And...
Do You Have The Guts To Face Yourself?
There was this guy who would not look at me. He sat in our session with his arms crossed, looking elsewhere. He admitted he was "irritated." His wife was sitting there in tears, and through her tears, she said, "This is what it's like for me! Now you know!" And the...
Winning Formula: Tools + Accountability
Did you know that right now, it’s possible for you to fall in love -- with each other -- again? I’ll explain how in just a second. But first, let’s talk about why so many people think this is impossible. The truth is that you’ve been LET DOWN. Let down by so many...
Does It Really Take Both Partners To Turn Around A Bad Marriage?
I myself used to subscribe to this myth. After all, I was a marriage counselor. How do you do marriage counseling with only one person?? That was until, we'll call him Joey, came to see me, insisting that his wife wanted no part of therapy. We worked slowly together...