The Pursuer-Distancer Dynamic
Why Your Partner Clams Up or Runs Away From Conflict (or why you do!) I want you to imagine that you’re at a cocktail party, and you’re talking with someone you have just met. As people naturally do, you stand [...]
What Masks Do You Wear?
Happy Halloween! In honor of the holiday, let’s talk about masks. We all wear (metaphorical) masks every single day. You may wear a mask that covers your entire face, obfuscating your identity, and choose to let it down only when [...]
What is your love language?
After posting a blog article a few months ago about the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, I've had a lot of people ask me how they can find out what their love language is. Thus, I give [...]
Sexual Communication: 3 Things Everyone Can Learn From the Kink Community
From a very young age, we’re told not to talk about sex. We’re provided with handy euphemisms for our body parts and informed of all the scary things that can happen if we have sex without protection, or with a [...]
When Her Partner Was Depressed
When her partner was depressed, she wondered where he went. She saw someone sitting in front of her, wearing the skin of the person she loved, but the spark, the humor, the joy, the essence that made him him seemed [...]
What Scaling a Wall Taught Me About Trust and Relationships
It takes a leap of faith to try something new as an adult, so I’m not quite sure how I found myself at Stronghold Climbing Gym, a rock wall gymnasium, this past weekend. I had signed up for a beginner-level [...]
100 Strategies to Help You Practice Self-Care
Last week, I wrote about the importance of self-care, and promised to follow it up with specific strategies for integrating it into your life. In other words, I gave you the “why.” Following is the “how.” What is self-care? Before [...]
25 Things Most People Think About
As a therapist, I have the privilege of sitting with people and helping them manage their insecurities and fears. Something that I've found to be profound and humbling is that as I go through my day, I hear the same [...]
The Upside of Cohabitation
Google the phrase “moving in together”. Go ahead, do it. I’ll wait. Or, if you’d prefer, I can do the legwork for you. Here’s what you’ll find: Articles for men warning the inevitable demise of their sex lives Articles for women promising that romance [...]
The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman
In a marriage or other long-term romantic relationship, a person expresses love but their partner complains that they don’t. Maybe, according to Gary Chapman, it’s that they’re expressing that love in a way their partner doesn’t understand. The premise of this [...]