Happily Ever After is Just the Beginning

It won’t come as any surprise that there are real differences between men and women when it comes to sex. This doesn’t have to be cause for alarm or despair. Instead, it can be a jumping off point for an exciting and pleasurable adventure. Dr. Barry McCarthy, professor of psychology at American University, therapist, and author of Rekindling Desire ( http://www.amazon.com/Barry-W.-McCarthy/e/B002E...

The old song links love and marriage, not sex and marriage. It’s even really popular to make jokes about how bad or infrequent sex is once you’re married. The real truth is that married people have sex more often than single people. It is common, however, for sex to become routine and boring in a long term relationship. It doesn’t have to be that way though. Chris Maxwell Rose, Sex Educator and co...

Trust is the key to a happy, healthy relationship. Unfortunately, it often falls victim to fear—fear of being hurt, of being betrayed, of being unloved. While these fears may not be irrational, they often lead to irrational and unproductive behavior, such as attempts to control your partner or constant questioning of them. These behaviors then lead to the end of the relationship, thereby reinforci...

All relationships are reciprocal—we each put in and we each take out. They are also always a balance between the individuals and the relationship itself. Over time, many relationships get skewed towards what one individual wants or expects. This often leads to viewing the relationship through a distorted lens and results in a change in feelings about your partner. Once your feelings change, so doe...

Like marriage, divorce has changed over the years. Not only was a divorce difficult to get but it used to bring shame and hardship, especially to women. But now, it is not unusual to meet people who have been divorced two or three times. There is no longer a stigma to being divorced and, if you are over 30, it would be quite difficult to eliminate the divorced from your potential dating pool. But...

You may love being “in love” but developing a deeper, more long lasting love is what is going to keep your marriage happy and healthy. You may think the distress in your marriage is because you’ve fallen out of love with your partner; that they are no longer the person you married. Before you go looking for someone else to fall in love with, Lesli has five questions you need to answer. Don’t miss...

Often when someone is unhappy in their marriage they think there are only two options: stay in a poor relationship or get out. What they don’t realize is that there is a third way—make it better. Unfortunately, finding help can be really scary as many couples don’t know where to go or what to expect. As a result, they often cross their fingers (or close their eyes) and hope. Dr. William Doherty, p...

Good communication is an essential component of successful relationships. Unfortunately, as with many other relationship skills, many people lay the problems with communicating at the feet of their partner. Bryan Toder, hypnotist, author and speaker, joins Lesli in an open discussion about communication that touches on gender differences, lack of skill development, the impact of assumptions, and m...

It is a generally accepted statistic that the divorce rate in the US is fifty percent. This has led to a fear of marriage, especially among millenials, even as they still desire the close relationship only marriage can bring. The real cost of this high rate of marital failure is not just emotional, it is also financial. These costs go way beyond the individual families involved. The impact is felt...

Most people say their ideal marriage involves love, security, intimacy and a real partnership. While love is desirable, and even necessary for a successful marriage, it is not sufficient. The real secret to a happy, long lasting marriage is the willingness to risk being vulnerable. Most people think that being vulnerable is a weakness but Dr. Beth Erickson, speaker, consultant, coach and the autho...

It is impossible to have a real discussion about marriage and what makes it work without talking about divorce as well. Since No-Fault Divorce became the law of the land, there has been an increased acceptance of divorce as a cure-all for marital difficulties. This is exemplified by the all-purpose “irreconcilable differences” whether any attempt has truly been made to reconcile them and culminati...

The Problem Was Me ( http://theproblemwasme.com )

A big reason that people struggle with both the concept and the reality of marriage is the acceptance of common inaccurate assumptions about what makes it work. Myths like marriage requires work and marriage requires compromise lead people to believe marriage is harder than it has to be. Join Lesli and her guest Sky Blossoms, relationship expert and bestselling offer of Best Thing Ever: Escape Dis...

From the millennial interest in something called Beta marriage to the push for gay marriage to questions about the validity of monogamy to the commonality of divorce, marriage as a concept, and in practice, has become both desirable and scary. In many ways, the old rules of marriage have been thrown out. But the numerous options that have replaced have left many feeling confused and unfulfilled. ...

Even though marriage is between two people, a recent study has found support for the old adage “Happy Wife, Happy Life”. Married men reveal they are happier when their wives are happy, even if they didn’t rate the marriage highly themselves. Unfortunately, the reverse is not true. Jim Hamilton, author of  ( http://www.itsallabouther.net/ )IT’S ALL ABOUT HER: ( http://www.itsallabouther.net/) A Man...

Relationships are made up of two people. Both of their wants, needs, and desires must be taken into account for the relationship to work. Unfortunately, most of the focus for relationships and advice given today is aimed at women. This leads to the false belief that they know what makes relationships work. As a result, men often are left feeling their views and perceptions don’t matter about somet...

Many people get caught up in the trappings of relationships. What someone looks like, the car they drive, the job they have, where they live, and so on. They pay attention how well they “should” match up on paper and struggle when it doesn’t feel right. Lesli talks with Jessica Sabatini, Finding My Real Love ( http://findingmyreallove.com/) coach and author, about identifying what is really import...

Many of us think that relationships are natural and all that is necessary for success is to find the right person to love and to love us back. We might view marriage as a generic life goal but with most of the planning focused on the wedding day and little thought about what comes after. Join Deidre Hughey ( http://www.deidrehughey.com/) , speaker, coach, and author of The BOLD Factor, and Lesli (...

Most of us are bombarded with images and stories about finding our soul mate, having a romantic marriage proposal and then a fairy tale wedding. What we don’t get much information about is how to make the magic last through the years. Ann Kramer, life coach and author of Life Puzzle, ( http://trianglewholewellandgood.com/) joins Lesli in a discussion about the personal skills necessary to build a...