Normalize therapy.

Here’s today’s question: “Background: I grew up in an abusive home (my father is an addict and a bully, but my mother never reported his abuse to authorities or tried to explain that what he was doing was wrong- we just pretended that nothing had happened afterwards) and my husband grew up in a home with not much affection or healthy communication. I am a newly trained mediator a...

A listener wrote in with the question: “How do you set boundaries with social media? What’s acceptable to keep the marriage from the pressures of the world. For example: One spouse doesn’t like revealing pictures put out and the other is getting physically fit and feeling the need to parade?” Listen to the podcast for Caleb’s answer!

This week, we have a question from one of our audience members who wanted clarity on her expectations around side effects of her husband’s testosterone therapy. “What experience do you have with testosterone therapy for men? I believe part of the cause of my husband’s infidelity is due to much testosterone pellets and an excessive need for sex. I do not excuse him for one minute...

This week, Caleb answers a very touching question from Betty*, one of our email subscribers. She asked, “I responded a few months ago, rather aggressively, may I add, to your husband’s question. And of course, he graciously responded with a question that pierced through my pain and frustration and found my heart. He asked,” Do you still want to be married?” I thought about...

Caleb answers a question from a listener about sexual addiction and its consequences in marriage.

Today we have a question from one of our audience members who is asking for help to overcome some significant mental barriers around her husband’s sexual history. Hi, I have a question.  I got married just recently and much later in life…around 40 years old.  I was a virgin when I got married. My husband was not. However he shared with me that he had not had any sexual partners for...

One of our listeners asked for help with his situation. His wife is in an ongoing affair but also wants to keep the family unit intact. As you might imagine, despite his willingness to forgive and move on, he is wondering how to handle this very difficult situation.

A listener wrote in asking how he could help his wife trust him after his infidelity in their marriage. Caleb gives him lots to think about!

This is episode #114 and we are going to be talking about whether or not it is possible to have a hectic life AND be happily married. So in this episode, you will find out if you need to change your career and lifestyle, or if you’re all good to go. No pressure.

Jealousy. This can drive some people absolutely nuts – and their spouse feels completely justified. It’s a real conundrum. And it’s particularly worse when the jealous spouse has had prior reason to become jealous — a betrayal has occurred. What does a person do? Healthy And Unhealthy Forms of Jealousy. Research shows that jealousy can have positive or negative effects on a relationship, dep...

Learn more about the problems, symptoms and deeper issues that are present in sexless marriages. If you’re in this situation, you can find hope and ideas for recovery.

We know for some of you, this episode is going to be a tough one. We’re going to speak the truth in love because we’re committed to integrity, but at the same time we want to give you hope because this IS hope, and recovery of your marriage IS possible. If you’re at the point where you think your marriage is fine, I hope you will take from this post the need to be proactive. Don’t want until you’r...

A sexless marriage almost never starts in the bedroom. By the time a couple notices that sex has slowed to a stop, the disconnection that produced the gap has usually been growing for months or years in the rest of the relationship. The bedroom is the readout, not the cause. If you’ve found this page because physical intimacy in your marriage has gone quiet, or because one of you wants more...

Life is super busy. We get that. Rather than focusing on the hopelessness of the ‘busy’ problem, why not take the time you do have and make the most of it? Here are 10 sure-fire ways to make time for each other in a crazy busy marriage. These are not things that will ADD to your busyness, but allow you to connect WITHIN the context you’re already in. It would be wrong for us not to challenge you a...

If you really want to build more intimacy in your marriage – and who wouldn’t??? – here are four ways to do that. Take the time to hear, and digest this. 1 st Way to Build Intimacy: Intimacy is Built Through Disclosure and Responsiveness Given that intimacy itself is purely emotional, let’s put a nice, sterile definition on it… Intimacy is what happens through interactions of self-disclosure and p...

You give and you give. You scan his mood before he walks in the door. You handle the things he forgot, smooth over the conversation his sister did not appreciate, manage the family calendar he never looks at. And somewhere along the way, you stopped knowing what you actually wanted, because the question got buried under the weight of keeping everyone else okay. If any of that lands, you might be l...

So, your spouse just blew it. Again! How can you move from the place of being offended – and maybe feeling like a victim – to feeling like you’ve moved the dial on your marriage in a positive direction? We’ve all been in that situation where we’ve been offended by our spouse – when what we heard hurt us. But, what is it that we hear and feel that hurts? Once you understand what’s coming at you, yo...

Talking to each other seems like a pretty obvious topic, right? But, how many times have I asked Caleb, about a couple we’re working with, “Do they not talk???” This is a really fundamental issue that we see in most marriages we help. Folks are simply not having the basic day-to-day conversations they need to, and as a result, there are misunderstandings, miscommunications, and then conflict! If w...

Betrayal is such a ground-shaking event. Probably because it so deeply challenges your beliefs about someone incredibly significant in your life, and that, in turn, challenges your beliefs about yourself. So: what does the road forward, after betrayal, look like? Unfortunately, betrayal is a journey that every couple goes through at one time or another. It is sometimes something as severe as an af...

Conflict can be such a painful, frustrating experience. Is it really possible to turn conflict into an opportunity to grow closer rather than it being a catalyst to push you further apart? Both Caleb and the research think it’s possible! This topic was spawned by the question, “How can we do conflict as if we’re passionate about solving the same problem instead of having it something that’s agains...

The definition of mixed feelings: watching your mother-in-law drive off a cliff in your brand new car. The joke lands because almost everyone has felt some version of it. The strain, the awkward visits, the loyalty conflict you cannot quite name. Knowing how to deal with in-laws is not a personality trait you either have or you don’t. It is a structure you build with your spouse, and there a...

On the Marriage Podcast for Smart People we don’t often talk about parenting. But when it’s impacting your marriage , then it’s our business! Fighting over kids, or parenting issues is a very common source of marital conflict. It’s common, but it’s also really frustrating and it can be a tough rut to get out of. A further negative of this fighting situation though, is that disagreements on childre...

Episode #100! Wahoo!!! Normally we focus on real-world, research-based strategies to help your marriage. Today, we’re mostly just going to stop and reflect on our podcast and www.onlyyouforever.com and talk a little about our future plans. But, this being the marriage podcast for smart people, hosted by a research-guru…we couldn’t have no research! So here’s the research, and if you want all our n...

Why does it seem to be so difficult to create time to spend together? We all want to spend more time with our spouse and do more together, but so often it doesn’t fit into the schedule and we don’t quite get around to doing it. Sometimes the truth hurts. Today we’re going to give you two key strategies for creating more time with your spouse – what you can actually do to create the time together t...

My cousins boss and the boss’ wife went fishing one day. It was the first time in a long time they were doing something together rather than him working and being on the phone ALL day. Apparently, his phone rang so he answered it (which fellows, was the wrong thing to do!), so his wife grabbed the phone and pitched it as far into the ocean as she could throw. Is the cell phone becoming a problem i...