The Empowered Wife Podcast: Marriage Help with Laura Doyle

Download the FREE Adored Wife Roadmap now and start transforming your relationship today! Click here: lauradoyle.org/roadmap Here's what you'll get: 6 SIMPLE steps to bring back playfulness, passion, and connection to your marriage. The 3 COMMON mistakes wives make when trying to fix things (and how to avoid them!). A clear, actionable plan to create the joyful, loving marriage you deserve. Don't...

When my marriage was really bad, I just wanted to force it to get better through sheer will. That's why I made John go to marriage counseling! I was willing to put in hard work and perseverance, of course, because that's what I figured it meant to "work on" your marriage. I mean, I'd always heard marriage is hard work. Hard work! I heard that a lot. Weirdly, it's not hard work now; it's easy and f...

If your husband isn't keeping his promises, like to love, honor and cherish you, or is drinking way too much or there's another woman who's too close or he's just become a loser pants, then how are you supposed to respect him? What if he's abusive? What if he's distant or absent? What if he's walking away from the marriage? What if he conned you? It's painful enough to be in that situation without...

If you've been struggling in your relationship for a while, you're probably exhausted. I remember how hopeless and scared I felt when we'd been struggling for years and nothing was working to make it better. Not marriage counseling, not books about relationships, not working on communication—none of that worked for us. It's such a disappointment to go from feeling like he's an amazing person you'r...

I found myself doing all the housework not long after we were married because I thought it would be nice for him and I wanted to be a nice wife, plus I wanted a clean house, homemade meals, and neatly folded laundry. And I wanted those things done the right way. It wasn't long before I was overwhelmed, exhausted and mighty resentful! I was doing everything while he just skated along and watched TV...

This was one of the great mysteries of my life, so I want to share this with as many women as possible. I don't want anybody to suffer just because they don't know about these mistakes. Because before I knew them, I suffered. Just a few years into our marriage, my husband John refused to do housework. When I tried to tell him to wash the dishes, he just turned up the TV to drown me out. I begged,...

If you're anything like I was, this isn't the first year you've resolved to improve your relationship. I said it year after year because I was so stuck and didn't know what to do to get my husband to pay attention to me, be more affectionate, and be more responsible. But this new year, your marriage can actually be different. And I don't mean because you're going to try harder, which never works b...

Every month the Certified Relationship Coaches and I get together and tell true stories about our relationships because having lots of stories to share is an important part of being a great relationship coach. Some of the best stories, those most valuable to the person you're coaching? They're embarrassing. They're not proud moments or good examples of how to be a model wife. More like horrible wa...

When you're going to trust someone with something as important as making your marriage last and thrive, it's scary. You want to make sure it's the right someone! Especially if you're trying to navigate a crisis, like a separation, the threat of divorce, or an affair, which feels so vulnerable and private. There's so much at stake, like your whole family's happiness and future! You shouldn't have t...

When your husband treats you like a roommate, it feels cold and lonely. You didn't get married to have a roommate! You got married to enjoy each other's company, to enjoy passion, and if you're anything like me, to feel desired. So getting the roommate treatment is a bait-and-switch that can make you feel rejected and abandoned as a wife. It's also embarrassing. At least it was for me, because I f...

Okay, I don't have much to say about outlaws. I just love that joke, that the difference between outlaws and in-laws is that outlaws are wanted. That's because in-laws can be annoying and get on your very last nerve! They might be nosy, overbearing, or passive-aggressive, but you can't get rid of them, as much as you might like to sometimes. Or is that me I'm thinking of? Well, not anymore. Now I...

It feels really bad when the man who promised to love honor and cherish you sneers at you when you're talking, takes sides with the kids, doesn't bother to answer you when you're saying something important, makes demands or criticizes you. It's so hurtful and insulting. You start to feel like you're always on guard to protect yourself, which is tiring too. How is it ever going to improve if he's j...

First of all, I don't even have kids to disrespect me, so this could be a really short podcast because what do I know?! Sure, I know what it's like to be disrespected by exceedingly short people. It is so frustrating because I can just pick them up and drop them on the bed while they giggle relentlessly like bedtime is some big game instead of the end of my childcare shift, which can't come fast e...

If you suspect your man is just a little too emotionally intimate with another woman, it feels terrible. It's threatening because emotional intimacy was a big part of how you two fell in love to begin with. It could signal that he's falling for someone else, which is not right. You shouldn't have to fear that some other woman is having the connection with him that you want or that she might have b...

What could be worse than knowing that your husband loves someone else when he should be devoted to you and only you? This should not be happening. It's so wrong! And a terrible rejection to know he finds someone else so alluring that he's willing to put everything he has with you at risk. I mean, is she younger than you? Prettier? What is it about her that's worth making a fuss about? He is your h...

Going from feeling desired and sexy to getting rejected by your own husband is a terrible feeling. Is there something wrong with him? With you? Is it because you're not as attractive as you used to be? Either way, it's scary to think about a dreary future with little to no passion. You might wonder what you can even do about it if the problem is his lack of drive. Are you going to be on a starvati...

Not only will this phrase help make your marriage last a lifetime, it will also help your marriage stay shiny and amazing. Because it's not just the words coming out of your mouth and your husband hearing them that make them powerful. Although that's certainly part of it, and he will respond to you better. This phrase is also going to change your heart. It does double duty that way. That's why I c...

We've discovered four things that are pivotal for wives fixing their marriage. But one in particular helps you make quantum leaps in your marriage because it helps the 6 Intimacy Skills stick. It's when I started practicing this piece that I got my miracle of feeling loved, desired, taken care of and special every day—more than ever over 20 years later. I'm excited to share how I got a breakthroug...

It's so dreary to find out you're married to someone with bouts of exhaustion and depression interspersed with manic behavior. It feels like bait and switch. How are you ever going to have a great partnership when there are just those two extremes and nothing in the middle, no normal husband behavior? It's scary because not only are you married to someone who can't always be a good partner to you,...

Part of why you decided to go all in and commit to your man is because he made you feel special. So when you see your husband checking out other women, it's not only disappointing, it can be threatening. That's not the agreement you had when he said you were the most wonderful, amazing woman in the world. It can make you angry if he's looking at another woman in an obvious way. It can be embarrass...

If you miss snuggling on the couch, dreaming about your future together, and spontaneous dance grooves in the hallway, it's disappointing when that goes missing. Without love, there's just work and chores and sleep. It's lonely and sad when all the joy is sucked out of your marriage. But if you want to feel desired again, get pats on the butt just because, and see his face light up when you walk i...

This is the 200th episode of the Empowered Wife Podcast, so first of all, let's have some confetti! Yay! It's because of you listening to this podcast every week, many of you more than once, that it's been so successful. So thank you for listening, for thinking marriage is important enough to learn about and work on, because it is, and for the glowing ratings and reviews, and for sharing the podca...

It's annoying when you're trying to have a conversation and your man either clams up and gets cold or raises his voice or starts arguing with you. It seems mysterious why he's so riled up. If only he'd relax so you could have a normal conversation! I used to be so confused about why my husband would look exasperated when I'd made an innocent comment. It turns out that, without meaning to or even r...

Lacking emotional and physical intimacy in my marriage was miserable. With no deep conversations, flirting, or laughing together, I felt rejected and neglected, NOT desired, which is something really important to me. What's the point of even being married?! After the connection and playfulness we used to have, I knew what I was missing, which made it even worse! Thinking this is just what happens...

The silent treatment can make you feel really bad and make you desperate to end the tension. It's scary and takes up a lot of energy wondering how long it's going to last, if it's still on, and if there's something you should be doing differently to fix it. It feels horribly rejecting when someone you love won't speak to you, answer you, or look at you—like a punishment with no end to the sentence...