Connect2 Marriage Counseling

Tag: Couples and marriage counseling

  • Mother asks About Plural Relationships

    June, thanks for sending in your question about plural relationships. Remember that as I am answering, I do not know these people and can not jump to conclusions about their emotional or mental state. I think the more important question is whether you are happy with your relationship with your son? Are you getting what…

  • Thinking of Sending Your Kids to Therapy?

    Before you send your kids to therapy, consider coming to couples counseling first. How come? The time, energy, and money you spend will go directly to your well-being and happiness as individuals, a couple, and as a family. Often, issues with kids end up getting sorted out as you become a stronger couple and have…

  • The Valley of Heart’s Delight

    The Valley of Heart’s Delight What is now Silicon Valley was originally known as The Valley of Heart’s Delight for its concentration of orchards, flowering trees, and plants. Until the 1960s it was the largest fruit production region in the world. Picture that . . . imagine the scent . . . When I came…

  • 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…

  • Couples Therapy: Professional Opinion of “Hope Springs”

    I realize that Tommy Lee Jones has been in a lot of movies. I see many movies with my teenage son, and so when I saw Meryl Streep with Tommy Lee Jones, all I could think of right off the bat was, ‘Agent K.’ I think many people wish they had a neuralyzer to use…

  • Premarital and Couples: Do you Fight, Flight, or Freeze?

    When you are triggered or flooded — i.e., upset or overwhelmed — do you fight, take flight, or freeze? These are the biologically wired-in options for humans. This has made us survive as a species. You need this tool; it also gets in your way in your relationship at times. I often see couples where…

  • Premarital and Couples: Here Be Dragons!

    I wrote about the The Four Stages of Competency, that begins with the Unconscious Incompetent, perhaps also known as our unconscious. Jung referred to it as our “shadow” side — the parts of ourselves we don’t know about, and frankly don’t want to face. When I wrote the back cover copy for my Connect2 Personality…

  • 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…

  • Premarital and Couples: How to Stop an Argument

    How to Stop An Argument Follow these simple steps to stop an argument: 1. Close your mouth (really, it works! But read on . . . ). 2. Make the “T” for time-out signal with your hands. 3. Give your partner the benefit of the doubt (his/her intention is useful, even if the impact on…

  • Premarital and Couples: An Affair Myth: Not Getting Enough at Home

    In her book NOT “Just Friends” Shirley Glass, Ph.D. writes about the research she has conducted about affairs. One result blows away an old myth: That the person having the affair wasn’t getting enough at home. The truth is that the person having an affair wasn’t GIVING enough at home. When you are giving to your…