Try sharing some appreciation today and let me know how you go Appreciation is a cornerstone of any strong and connected relationship. Expressing appreciation regularly not only makes your partner feel valued and loved but also strengthens the emotional bond …
Tag: healthy relationships
Relationship Rituals To Help with Connection
Relationship rituals help with co-regulation. When you are in an intimate relationship with someone, your nervous systems will attune with one another. When connection is strong in the relationship, if one person is dysregulated, the other person’s nervous system will …
Healthy vs. Unhealthy Friendships
What are the elements of a healthy friendship? Sometimes, it can be challenging to spot the warning signs when we are in a toxic friendship. We might feel that we are relying on that person for connection, validation or support. …
Protest Behaviours
Protest behaviours are ways of communicating. They have either been role modelled in your family of origin, or you have adapted them to stay safe in some way. For example, you might have witnessed your mother get angry about your …
Most Relationship Conflict Is Really About Differing Values:
Have you ever wondered why you end up fighting your partner over and over again about the same thing, a different situation, but the same topic? Let’s take a typical example, money. It might be that in your relationship, you …
I Get So Upset When He Doesn’t Know What I Need. Why Is That?
There were so many comments on point 1 in yesterday’s post, ‘unrealistic relationship expectations: my partner should be able to read my mind’ that I thought it was worth unpacking. It is often the case that we think we are …
How to Give up Being Right and Accept Influence
Research in relationships shows that men find it more difficult than women to accept influence from their partners (see J. Gottman’s research). But, let’s face it, we can all love to win, and we are living in a culture that …
How Having to Be Right Damages your Relationship and What to Do About it.
Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who has to be right all the time? It can be so frustrating. Even when there is evidence that they are wrong, they won’t openly say, “oh, I was wrong”, they …
How to Reconnect After an Argument
We all know that uncomfortable few minutes after a heated discussion. The argument’s energy is hanging in the air, and you are both processing what was said. If your trauma response has been activated, you might be calming your nervous …
Something to AVOID the Next Time You Are in An Argument
When we build up resentments in a relationship, it is common that they will come pouring out during an argument. You start with a complaint about how they leave their clothes on the floor, they become defensive, and to prove …