Certain styles of marriage cause the most conflict and unhappiness for couples. Once a marriage gets to the point where both people feel miserably unhappy, it becomes crucial to figure out what is wrong with the relationship. This level of unhappiness signals it is time to either try to fix the problems or end the marriage. Many of these destructive patterns result from common problems such as...
Social media communicating can be instrumental in keeping us informed about the people that we have in our lives. It can enhance our lives through rapid information sharing, leading to new ideas and emotional stimulation. But social media communication will never provide what real life intimacy offers. If you become too satisfied with tweets, picture sharing, and posts, then you may become the...
Not all thoughts need to be shared. This is a healthy boundary to keep in mind when just getting to know someone. However, many singles believe immediate honesty about personal information will win people over that they want to impress. This leads to introducing yourself in the ‘I am an open book” style of communicating. This level of disclosure is not a good idea. Yet many people...
A recent NBC Dateline episode, “On The Brink” aired on April 12, 2015, and highlighted a dire situation facing many autistic young adults and their families. It stated that within the next two years approximately 500,000 autistic teenagers will become ineligible for free public education because they will have reached the age of 22, The official term for this process is “aging...
The end of a romantic relationship is a painful experience. It is common to experience a variety of feelings such as anger, hurt, sadness and fear during a break-up. It is common to cry, yell and obsess about what went wrong. It is common to fantasize about fixing things so the pain will stop. Indeed, for some people, the break-up is so traumatic that they experience exaggerated versions of these...
By Rebecca Sperber, published in EzineArticles.com, August 2014 Is it possible for wonderful experiences like marriage and romantic intimacy to go horribly wrong by having too much closeness? Can being loved and loving someone begin to feel like a noose or isolation chamber? The answer to both questions is YES. There is an insidious process involved. In the beginning the typical couple is in...
Relationships have become a complicated subject in recent years. “How men should treat women vs. how women should treat men” or “what is a healthy, unhealthy or an addictive relationship” have become common topics of discussion. Although it can be helpful to understand that gender differences do exist and that there are some guidelines to help one determine whether or not a relationship is...
Many people would like to believe that the past does not affect the present. It is more comfortable to forget it and “move on.” Yet if your past includes a traumatic set of events, then you are affected and sometimes even controlled by it, due to deep, psychological scars that may remain. Adults who were abused, neglected or otherwise mishandled as children almost always grow up to face problems...
for parents and families of adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) – helping families validate, come to terms with, and heal from a difficult past There are thousands of Adult Children of Alcoholics across the country who are in therapy, reading self-help books, and in 12 step programs coming to terms with their past. They are mainly in their late 20’s to early 40’s suffering from moderate to severe...
In 1999, I found myself bound for the East Coast to attend my first autism conference. My son, Benny, had been diagnosed in 1997 when he was three years old. I am a psychotherapist by profession, specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy for individuals having a variety of diagnoses. I knew little about autism, but was determined to learn and learn fast. I had thought about ways to apply the...