Spouses Drifting Apart

Here’s a question I’ve been asked more than once: How do I know when it’s time to give up and stop trying to save my marriage? That’s a tough question, because the answer is one that people usually feel in a very personal way….and you can only feel it when you’re being brutally honest with… Read More

Defensive husbands. Emotional wives. Marriages full of heated arguments, cold shoulders, adult temper tantrums, childish meltdowns, constant criticism and stupid misunderstandings that lead to even more problems. Threats of divorce. Bedrooms full of resentment and devoid of intimacy. What’s behind it all? As a couples mediator and marriage conflict specialist, I could give you all… Read More

By Special Contributor Don Macleod. We’re all invested in our marriages, and not just financially. We also invest our emotions in our marriage. We put our love and trust in our spouse, and—for better or for worse—much of our happiness, sense of security, and even identity hinges on the state of our marriage.  That’s why… Read More

If you’ve ever heard your husband or wife say, “I want a divorce,” or “we should just get a divorce” or even “maybe we should try a separation,” then you know how frightening, how paralyzing, how stomach-sinking it can feel. Well, guess what?  So does your spouse.  In fact, that may be why they’re saying… Read More

Relationship problems run the gamut, but there are a few issues that are particularly ripe for conflict. One of the ripest is money. But why? No doubt part of it has to do with one’s background. A person raised in a wealthy household, whose parents paid for everything from their college tuition and designer clothes… Read More

I like to think I’m a fairly easy person to live with.  But like anybody, I can slip into bad habits.  It happened the other night.  I was trying to finish some client files and keeping an eye on the stove, while my husband was fielding last-minute work calls and trying to figure out why… Read More

I recently read a study that claimed celebrity marriages fail at twice the rate of other marriages.  As a marriage conflict specialist who has worked with higher profile couples, I wasn’t surprised.  Here, I’ve listed eight common reasons why celebrity marriages flounder.  Yet before you take comfort in your anonymity, know this: they’re the same… Read More

When it comes to marriage, emotional and sexual intimacy are two sides of the same coin.  In successful marriages, we see a pretty decent balance.  We see a couple who is going through life as best friends, and who just happen to think the other is pretty damn hot. Sex is a “use it or… Read More

When it comes to relationships – especially long-term relationships – underlying issues can silently tick along for months or even years before finally blowing up and causing major damage. Here are eight of the most common: Ignoring your partner’s complaints. For whatever reason, people often stop listening to their partner’s legitimate complaints about the relationship… Read More

A few days ago, I was trying on some clothes in a fitting room when – just as I pulled the shirt over my head – a sudden wall-shaking bang just about made me fall over.  I waited a moment and then, there it was, another wall-shaking bang.  And then another.  And another. And then… Read More

With the recent news that certain high-profile mature couples are divorcing, the term “gray divorce” is in the headlines, almost as if the trend is something new. It isn’t. In fact, as someone who began her career as a divorce mediator, I distinctly remember seeing waves of couples in their fifties and sixties filing for… Read More