THRIVE BLOG
RESOURCES
FOR BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS
Parenting As A Spiritual Path
Growing up, I thought that I could only experience the spiritual in religious places like churches or in solemnly recited words of prayer (and only when I was perfectly well-behaved). Once I became a parent, however, my four children taught me that the sacred can...
Change The Fear-Shame Cycle
In the early years of our marriage, my husband Jason and I used to get stuck frequently in the same frustrating interaction. “We need to talk about our relationship” I would announce to him out of the blue, with urgency and anxiousness in my voice. “I’m feeling...
Intimacy, a REAL adventure!
Do you ever dream of a beautiful exotic getaway with intimate moments of delight? The adventurous intimacy that you yearn for is not as far away as it might seem, but it’s not always easy to get there. You have to visit your partner’s world–not their office or their...
How Erotically Intelligent Are You?
The Center for Erotic Intelligence defines eroticism as “the interplay of desire and arousal with the daily challenges of living and loving,” and describes the five main elements of erotic intelligence as body attunement, social intelligence, emotional...
Feeling Stressed Out? Start Rewiring Your Stress Response Today!
Boost Your Health and Overcome Toxic Stress This month I read Nadine Burke Harris’s powerful recent book, The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity. A pioneering pediatrician, Dr. Harris is the founder and CEO of the Center for Youth...
It’s Not About the Dishes!
At our most recent 2-day Getting the Love You Want couples’ workshop, my husband Jason and I accompanied eight lovely couples on a rich experiential journey. Halfway through the workshop, the group had a collective epiphany: “It’s not about the dishes!” Their new...
Your Brain On Anger
In my work as a couples therapist, I often have couples complain to me about their partner’s anger management issues. As a mother myself, I never knew how angry I could get until I had children! Chronic anger can erode and break relationships and has a huge...
Discharging Your Loyal Soldier
I love the following reflection from Richard Rohr, a wise Franciscan priest, who founded the Center for Action and Contemplation. The vivid metaphor of the loyal soldier resonates deeply with my experience personally and professionally. The ways we learn to protect...
Are You Having An Affair…With Your Phone?
Do you ever experience anxiety or stress when you are separated from your cell phone? Are you afraid that you might miss something if you don’t compulsively check it? Do you find the seductive pull of social media hard to resist? If you answered yes to these...
How To Stay Together When You’re Never Apart
Surviving couplehood during the coronavirus In the past eight weeks of quarantine, my husband and I have regularly commented that we are not sure how we would have survived a lockdown if our now-grown four children had been toddlers or elementary school kids or even...
books to help you get the love you want
Recommended Reading
WATCH
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Why he brings out your absolute worst
SURRENDURING TO LOVE
TEDX: CONFLICTED RELATIONSHIPS