Relationships are an essential to our happiness and well-being. However, not all relationships are healthy and fulfilling. Some relationships are worse than merely unhealthy – they are downright dangerous and threatening to both our emotional and mental health. Understanding the signs of a toxic relationship is critical, because detecting these issues early makes it much […]
Relationships play a significant role in satisfying our needs for companionship, support, and human interaction. In this way healthy relationships bolster our physical and mental well-being. Unfortunately, relationships can also be a source of distress. Especially when our partner is unwilling or unable to satisfy our personal emotional relationships needs. Or unwilling to respect healthy […]
The concept of being “low maintenance” is often celebrated, as a symbol of resilience and ease. But priding oneself on being low maintenance can inadvertently perpetuate harmful stereotypes. It also undermines the value of vulnerability and authentic expression. And fosters a culture of emotional suppression and neglect. Today, we challenge the conventional wisdom surrounding the […]
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Are you old enough to remember hearing this chant as a child? Oh, how wrong we were. The power of words is intense. And verbal abuse is so common, we may even not realize when it is happening to us, or someone […]
Do you remember the book and movie “Love Story”? It was popular back in the 1970s, and the tagline was “Love means never having to say you’re sorry…” Although many people loved that movie, I hope few embraced that sentiment, because nothing could be further from the truth. It’s important for us to give each […]
Some days, our thoughts seem to have a mind of their own, so to speak. We can know in our hearts and brains that positive thinking is better for us. In fact, we can train our thoughts to improve our happiness. Yet often, our minds wander to the worst possible outcome, explanation, or assumption. We […]
Have you ever experienced a deep-seated fear of trusting others or forming intimate connections, even when you desire meaningful relationships? You may be grappling with a lesser known, yet impactful phenomenon called Pistanthrophobia. This complex term encapsulates the fear of trusting people due to past betrayals, heartbreak, or vulnerability. Today, we are covering the subject […]
In an earlier post, we wrote about how essential transparency is to relationships. In that piece, we talked about being honest with ourselves as the first step to having more open and honest relationships. This post focuses on another aspect of transparency. Specifically, how privacy and secrecy are connected and how they both are key […]
Achieving intimacy in relationships takes trust and courage. Knowing we need to let others see all of us is just the beginning. After we realize and accept how critical it is to allow ourselves to be truly vulnerable, it’s still very hard to do. This is where the courage part comes in. It’s a huge […]
Some say the best way to avoid disappointment is to never expect anything good to happen. But a huge part of what makes life joyful is imagining that the future may hold. What may be more helpful advice is to focus on learning how to deal with disappointment in a way that minimizes discouragement. If, […]
