Connect2 Marriage Counseling

Category: Marriage Therapy

  • Here Come the Holidays: Get Couple-Ready

    While this may be a time of family, love, thanks, giving, cheer, good food, and relaxing around the fireplace with good friends, it also may be a time of stress, high and/or differing expectations, extra activities, shopping, family drama, disappointment, and mixed signals. This would be an especially good time to get on the same…

  • A World Series Example: Be Explicit

    Game one, second inning; St. Louis’s Wainwright pitching, high pop up. Looks like he signals that he’ll catch it. Catcher Molina comes running up, but defers to Wainwright’s “signal.” They are standing a few feet apart. Either one could easily catch it. The ball falls to the ground between them. Thud. Runner goes to first.…

  • Go Ahead, Have a Fight

    Many disagreements come about because we don’t understand our partner’s intention, and s/he does not anticipate the impact that action or behavior will have on me. We have to remember that s/he did not grow up in our family, and s/he is not going to act “right” [meaning the way we expect or want] at…

  • In-laws to Love, or In-Laws from Hell?

    I fell in love today. It was not with my husband (this time). It was with a Macintosh computer. It happened once before; I can barely remember the year – it was a Mac Plus, there were hardly any apps for it. I spent hours with it in my attic apartment on Kipling Street in…

  • Love Means Having Someone to Lose: Engineers Not Exempt

    Formula 1 race driver and World champion Niki Lauda reminds me of a lot of Silicon Valley engineers I’ve met. I saw the movie ‘Rush’ a few days ago with my teenage son, and I was struck by Lauda’s brilliance, calculated risk-taking, and execution (I promise I won’t spoil the plot for you). Lauda initially…

  • Premarital and Couples: Permanent Record

    We had dinner with our friends recently and learned that their son kept a “Permanent Record” of things his parents had done wrong during his childhood (e.g., they never had a dog). While it was funny, and piece of their family fabric and storytelling, the sad truth is that many of you keep a Permanent…

  • Check Your Best Self at the Door

    When you embark on your day, many of you either consciously or by habit, get focused on what lies ahead.  You think about what you need to do and how you will navigate your day by bringing your best Self to the table. I’d like to propose an experiment in which you do that When You Get…

  • Marriage Maintenance

    According to research by Dr. John Gottman, who runs the “Love Lab” in Seattle, most couples wait an average of six years from the time they sense issues in their relationship before they seek help! Yikes! Who would wait that long before taking their car in to the shop? By the time couples get to…

  • Premarital and Couples: “Our Deepest Fear” by Marianne Williamson

    What is your deepest fear? As you read the quote below, please be thinking about yourself, your partner, and your relationship. What does this mean to you? What does it remind you of? How does it apply? How do you hold back? Come forward? Be authentic? “Our Deepest Fear Our deepest fear is not that we…

  • Couples: Increase in Parental Romance = Happier Kids, Too

    As parents, many of you spend a lot of time and energy thinking about what’s best for your kids. In many families, kids are prioritized above one’s partner. I believe you need to choose your partner overy our kids, by just a little bit. This provides a home where parents are showing love and care for…