Relationships Made Easy

Creating a great relationship with yourself or others is all about creating healthy habits: getting into the habit of identifying and regulating your own feelings, getting into the habit of being mindful in conversations, or getting into the habit of resisting urges that sabotage you getting to your goals (yes, put down your phone and the Oreos). Creating a great relationship with yourself or othe...

Feeling lonely sucks! If you’re here with me now, you’ve likely experienced the pain of feeling lonely or isolated at some point in your life. Social connection is imperative for humans. It improves our mental well-being and our physical health. Studies have even shown that a lack of social connection can be more detrimental to your health than smoking or obesity! So, what do you do if you feel lo...

Parental or other familial estrangement is a real thing these days. And it’s more common than ever to block or cut off toxic friends or siblings. But is there a healthy way to cut people off so you can feel at peace with your decision and life? The short answer is, “Yes,” but you need to know the dos and don’ts. Today I’m coming at you with the three big mistakes people make when they’re cutting s...

In my 40 years of experience, I’ve worked with bus drivers, billionaires, movie stars, and stay-at-home parents. I’ve worked with people who are depressed, anxious and have ADHD. And I can tell you that the one thing everyone has in common is that they often struggle with feeling ineffective in their day-to-day life. I always say that the most important relationship you have is the one with yourse...

One of the toughest parts of being human is dealing with others being angry or disappointed in us. You might react by being angry back, people pleasing or avoiding that person altogether. But no matter what you do, your brain likely keeps coming back to this person who’s angry at you, and you end up feeling anxious, fearful, resentful or drained. Why can’t you just let it go, and what can you do t...

Do you feel self-conscious in social situations? Are you often afraid that others are judging you? Do everyday interactions cause you significant anxiety or embarrassment? And has this fear gotten in the way of living your life? If you have social anxiety, you might feel hopeless that things will ever change, but you’re wrong. Social anxiety is treatable and today you’ll learn my top five tips for...

It’s healthy and normal to get frustrated or angry from time to time. However, it’s not healthy or normal to feel frustration and anger on a daily basis. This means your frustration tolerance is too low and it’s time to develop some much-needed skills so you can feel more peaceful and connected with yourself and those around you. Today I’m teaching you my top five strategies to stop feeling frustr...

Because so many of us come from dysfunctional families, it can be hard to know if we’re in a healthy relationship or just repeating the screwed up stuff we saw growing up with that seemed normal because it’s all we knew. With a career spanning 40 years, in multiple states and countries, and having worked in every environment you can imagine, I’ve learned a lot about what it means to truly be in a...

Why do relationships fail? When I ask people, “What’s the biggest issue in your relationship?” they almost always answer, “We don’t communicate.” That’s wrong (yes, I said it). And that wrong answer has you working on the wrong things. You try out all those communication tools to improve your relationship, but they don’t work! And you know why? Because you’re not treating the cancer, you’re treati...

It doesn’t take a genius to know that your relationship is worse off when you or your partner are under stress. A fight with your friend, money woes, that nasty commute, little Jimmy’s newly diagnosed gluten allergy, and those long work days bleed over into your relationship. The research shows that the more frustrations and issues people had outside the home, the more stress they had in their rel...

If you have abandonment issues, you have a persistent fear of rejection or isolation in your relationships. This means you struggle with trust, codependency, healthy boundaries, and insecurity which, of course, negatively impacts your interpersonal relationships and leaves you feeling anxious, depressed and resentful. Today we’ll be talking about the signs you might be missing, the core issues beh...

Do you open your eyes in the morning and your first thoughts are negative, or you notice a feeling of dread or worry lurking about? Well, you’re not alone. Morning anxiety is actually a relatively common experience and, believe it or not, it’s not just in your head. Yup. Your biology is against you too. Today you’ll learn why you have morning anxiety and my two clear steps to make it stop.  ______...

You can’t stop thinking about it, no matter how hard you try. You’ve got some event or interaction from your past or future on an endless negative loop in your brain and you’re feeling more anxious, depressed and overwhelmed as a result. Why do you do this when you know it doesn’t help, and how can you stop? Today I’m answering all your questions and bringing you my five steps to stop (or at least...

The research shows that resilient people do better in every area of life. They cope better with mental health issues like depression and anxiety, health crises, as well as money problems, and they do way better in all their relationships including romance, work and parenting. Today I’m teaching you the four ways to be more resilient so you can be happier in all your relationships. ________________...

Should You Date While You’re Going Through Therapy and Working on Healing? The short answer is no but you don’t have to wait until you’re completely done with therapy either. So, when is the right time to start dating? Today I’ll be teaching you why you should wait to date and the three ways to know that the time is right. ____________________________ Full blog and show notes: https://abbymedcalf....

He’d rather stay home, and you’d rather have dinner out. She needs alone time after work, and all you want to do is talk about your day. Introverts are often attracted to extroverts’ vivaciousness, while extroverts often want to be around the still, calm energy that introverts emit. So falling in love can feel easy, but being in a relationship then becomes hard as you have different wants and need...

So, you want to change some aspects of your personality. Maybe you’ve got a short fuse and want to be more calm. Maybe you’re shy and introverted and want to be more outgoing. Whatever your reason, you’re likely asking yourself, “Is it even possible to change my personality?” The short answer is, “Yes.” But there are some steps to make that happen. Today you’ll learn the five traits that make up y...

So many of you have told me that you find dating apps exhausting, confusing and overwhelming. Since I haven’t used them in over a decade, I brought in some experts. Today, I’ll be interviewing Ali Jackson and Erica Spera who will share their best dating app advice, so stay tuned. ____________________________ Get the show notes: https://abbymedcalf.com/best-dating-app-advice-an-interview-with-the-p...

Are you walking away from conversations feeling misunderstood, disrespected or dismissed? Do you find yourself repeating the same questions or desires over and over again, but nothing ever changes? Are you looking for ways to finally feel heard in an important relationship? Well, you’re in the right place! Whether you’re struggling with your partner, dad, sister or best friend, this three-step pro...

Jealousy has no place in a love relationship because jealousy is about fear, not love. But, it continues to be a huge issue in many relationships (I know this because you all keep asking me about it)! Today we’ll discuss the many ways jealousy might be showing up in your relationship, the eight things not to do if your partner is jealous, and the three ways to help move from jealousy to connection...

You messed up, or at least you think you did. Maybe it was a job you quit in the heat of the moment, not finishing your education ten years ago or cheating on your spouse. We can perceive big or little things as crimes that need to be punished in perpetuity. Many of us can easily forgive others, but when it comes to forgiving ourselves, we’re not so generous. But learning to forgive ourselves is c...

Whether you call it a consensually non-monogamous relationship or ethical nonmonogamy, open relationships can be hard to define. It’s not cheating or swinging, and it’s not polyamory. So, what are open relationships and do you want to consider it? Today I’m sharing my five-step process for knowing if an open relationship is right for you. ____________________________ Full blog and show notes: http...

If you’re like me, when you think of a relationship break, you’re remembering Ross Gellar on the show Friends , screaming, “We were on a break!” Well, let me tell you, that was not the right way to take a relationship break. But there is a healthy way to take a relationship break and you do it by asking (and answering) three important questions. ____________________________ Full blog and show note...

Does your mother make a comment about your haircut, and you blow up? Does your partner casually mention that they’re going out with friends after work, and you get upset and withdraw? When you’re triggered, you have a strong emotional reaction to something that isn’t equal to the situation. Today you’ll learn how to identify when you’re having a trigger and my top tools to effectively deal with tr...

Adjustment disorders are basically having excessive reactions to some stress (or stressors) in your life that result in overly strong emotions, increased negative thinking and some sort of change in behavior. The key is that the reaction to this event is way more intense than would typically be expected. As you might imagine, this can cause a lot of problems in your relationships, work or school....