Relationship Renovation: Marriage Advice for Better Communication, Trust & Intimacy

Couples struggle with communication and the ability to resolve conflict. They find themselves in repetitive patterns where they lose confidence in their ability to stay connected and solve problems in challenging moments. They find themselves feeling frustrated when it comes to expressions of intimacy. When these patterns repeat, they often conclude that they are “just a bad fit.” Or that one or t...

Therapy can be an intimidating process to begin. Some individuals believe that it means that there is something wrong with them and that the stigma of going to counsel will negatively impact how others perceive them. For some, it is a scary thought to address issues from their past that they have purposely avoided addressing. Couples' therapy often ends up being the last resort, and by the tim...

Pets play a central role in our lives. They are members of our family that enrich our lives, provide joy and break our hearts when they pass away. In this episode Tarah and EJ interview Cristina Piastrini, anthropologist and therapist. The three discuss pets' significant impact on individuals, couples, and families. The episode is informative, exploring the biological, cultural, and evolutiona...

Couples struggle with work/life balance. They often comment that their relationship doesn't feel like a priority, pulling them apart and leaving them feeling like roommates or even co-workers. They manage their lives day-to-day and forget how important it is to cultivate a loving and tender connection. When this happens, intimacy dwindles, and frustration rises. This, coupled with poor communi...

Accountability is choosing to look at your behavior and take responsibility for your actions. Unfortunately, being accountable is not an intuitive step in many relationships. Instead, couples tend to focus on their partner, which pulls couples apart instead of bringing them together. When individuals within a couple take the brave step of looking inward and owning ways they contribute to negative...

Forgiveness is the process of letting go of negative thoughts and feelings from a past event or series of events. Throughout the course of a relationship, it is inevitable that individuals within a couple will have moments where they hurt one another. When couples are unable to forgive one another they build a backlog of resentments that create obstacles to feeling deeply connected and loving. In...

Movement is our first language and most basic form of communication. It is a metaphor for how we think, feel and relate to the self and others. There are many ways to connect with your partner, but often couples get stuck in communication patterns that pull them apart intimately. Finding creative ways to understand your feelings and using that information to create vulnerable and connecting moment...

Couples often come to therapy because they are fed up with patterns of conflict that leave them both frustrated, alone, and hopeless. When couples end up in repetitive arguments, they increasingly lose confidence in their ability to stay connected in a difficult time. They build resentment and eventually become more emotionally and physically distant. When couples learn to listen, become aware, an...

Trauma profoundly impacts an individual’s daily life and causes significant dysregulation in their nervous system, especially in times of distress. 70% of adults in the United States have experienced some form of trauma, which amounts to over 220 million individuals suffering from the effects of a traumatic event. With such a substantial amount of people having suffered from a traumatic event in t...

Throughout an intimate relationship, couples face challenging times. Many of the burdens you face as a couple, result from difficult times, external stress, and how you and your partner cope. Oftentimes, the stress you face is a direct result of your partner's choices and how they succeed and fail to adapt to the ups and downs of life. Resentment is the uncomfortable emotion that individuals i...

Throughout an individual’s life, they have experiences that shape how they see and interact with the world. Our prior experiences create the way we respond consciously and unconsciously in our relationships. When couples come together, they have entirely different ways to adapt to their environment. When you enter into an intimate relationship, you respond to life simultaneously. Unfortunately, yo...

The beginning of a relationship is often a time of excitement and immense pleasure. You and your partner stay up late talking, kissing, and more! It’s almost like you can’t get enough of them. You can face the next day of work or school with little to no sleep and show up with the high of love exuding out of every pore on your body. This “honeymoon” period of love and attraction can last weeks, mo...

Relationships face their most significant struggles in times of transition. Childbirth and having a baby is one of the most significant life changes that individuals and couples face during their lifecycle. Becoming parents creates a significant shift in the identity of an individual which can pull a couple apart in a time when they want to feel the most connected. Couples are often unprepared for...

Individuals have countless options to help them find another person (Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, HER, etc.). But, once you have found someone you want to be with, technological resources dry up, and you are left on your own. The process of building a healthy relationship is almost entirely unsupported in the digital world. The proliferation of dating apps can keep individuals in a constant state of see...

Taking an honest and empathetic yet critical look at how the past will affect the future helps couples create the loving relationship that they crave. It helps them identify the obstacles that get in the way of healthy conflict resolution. When couples lack the understanding of the roots of the discord in their relationship they get lost in destructive patterns of communication which diminishes th...

Couples often struggle to make their relationship a priority. They trust that the deep bond created early on in their relationship will naturally maintain their connection. Other aspects of their lives (career, hobbies, children, family) take up all their time and energy, and their relationship ends up on the back burner. It takes creativity, intentionality, and consistency to create ongoing quali...

When a couple seeks help for their relationship, they address various topics -- communication, parenting, finances, family integration, appreciation, work/life balance, and of course, sex and intimacy. No issue is more complicated to navigate than a couple's intimate relationship. Having the ability to express love and receive love from your partner is the foundation of wellness and satisfacti...

Sex and intimacy are aspects of a relationship that all couples struggle with. It is also an area of our lives where we receive limited and often destructive and unhelpful messages as a child and adult. By deepening your understanding and ability to communicate with your partner about the intimate aspects of your relationship, you create the ability to give and receive love in a way that makes you...

Family dynamics, gift buying, finances, blended families, and holiday expectations are one of the many issues couples have to cope with in the weeks ahead. The holiday season is a time where there are added stressors and expectations. At a time when individuals want to feel deeply connected to their partner, they can easily find themselves lonely, frustrated, and unfulfilled. In this episode, Tara...

Studies estimate that up to 43% percent of adults experienced some childhood trauma. Traumatic experiences often lead to mental health struggles which place significant stress on a high percentage of adult relationships. Dissociative Disorders are a common biproduct of childhood trauma. Dissociative disorders involve problems with memory, identity, emotion, perception, behavior and sense of self....

Family dynamics, gift buying, finances, blended families, and holiday expectations are one of the many issues couples have to cope with in the weeks ahead. The holiday season is a time where there are added stressors and expectations. At a time when individuals want to feel deeply connected to their partner, they can easily find themselves lonely, frustrated, and unfulfilled. In this episode, Tara...

The idea of going to couples counseling can be intimidating and feel daunting. Often, couples put off seeking support until they are in a place of crisis. This complicates the process and can slow down healing because their communication has gone so far offline. When couples come to counseling preventatively or early on in their relationship, they can strengthen their relationship and avoid many d...

Individuals can get so caught up in life that they take their relationships for granted. Instead of appreciating all of the ways that their partner enriches their life, they only notice moments of discomfort and disruption. If couples aren't careful they can get stuck in patterns of frustration and annoyance that pull them apart and erode their intimate connection. In this episode, Tarah and E...

When we commit to our partner for the long term, we are often caught up in the excitement of finding our life-long love. The joy of coming together overshadows the gravity of what commitment means. Becoming life partners is an agreement that you will be together throughout your lifespan. That you will support one another in growth and the inevitable ups and downs of life, aging with your partner -...

Couples often lack the tools to navigate conflict in a healthy way. They both become emotionally activated and engage in a "war of perspectives". They desperately want to feel heard and understood, but because they are both hurt, angry and frustrated they struggle to listen and validate each other's thoughts and feelings. In this episode, Tarah and EJ discuss Emotional Triage, a strate...