Intimate relationships thrive on emotional safety. The more each partner feels they can turn towards each other, seek shelter in each other from the storms of life, the greater the security. When I work with couples...
Category - Relationship Problems
Lisa Brookes Kift, MFT
Are You in an Emotionally Abusive Relationship?
Do you feel like you have to “walk on eggshells” around your partner? Are you afraid a lot of the time in your relationship? Is your self esteem being slowly eroded? It’s possible you’re in an emotionally abusive...
Rewire Your Sense of Hurt or Shame in Painful Relationship Interactions
Linda Graham, MFT offers this powerful tool to help get through and actually rewire challenging relational experiences resulting in emotional pain. There’s a teaching story in the Buddhist tradition that can guide...
Linda Graham, MFT
How to Sabotage Your Relationships by Not Owning Your Stuff
If you’re wondering why your relationships often go awry or seem more difficult than they should be, perhaps it’s time to consider your role. “I have a role?” you ask. Yes, you just might. The...
3 Roadblocks to Forgiveness in Relationships
Dr. Richard Nicastro, PsyD, explores things that complicate forgiveness in relationships. Sometimes the part of us that feels truly indignant remains rigid. Can you get to a place where letting it go is possible...
Richard Nicastro, PhD
Time to Rethink What You Thought You Knew About Romantic Relationships and Affairs
Esther Perel has an unmistakeable presence. The Belgian speaker, therapist, author and TedX sweetheart has been challenging us all, including therapists like myself, to rethink our paradigms around romantic...
Study: Top 3 Things Couples Fight About and Other Things You Should Know
Fresh off attending the 2018 Psychotherapy Networker Symposium in Washington DC, I had the opportunity to attend a workshop with John Gottman. Dr. Gottman is a dominant figure on the relationship research and couples...
Ask Lisa: Lack of Emotional Safety in My Relationship
I read your article on “emotional safety” and it seems to be lacking in my recent relationship. I’d been dating a guy on and off for about a year. I’ve been trying to share this concept with him...
Ask Lisa: I’m in an Emotionally Abusive Marriage
I started dating my husband when I was 19 and he was 36. I came from a broken home where there was extreme violence and alcohol abuse, so I did not want to have anything to do with alcohol. He told me that he was only a...
Does Your Relationship Have a Strong Negativity Bias?
A common thread in my couples therapy practice with those who struggle to make change is a strong negativity bias. The needle on the “Geiger counter” of their relationship is bouncing up and down in the red...
