There should be no shame in divorce. After all, it is a challenge to sustain a marriage through a lifetime. And the circumstances of each uncoupling is unique to the coupling pair. Yet the wake of pain can follow the players throughout a lifetime, with a residue that impacts children, grandchildren, new marriages and families […]
holiday stress
Holiday Season – No Time To Test The Relationship, Yet Opportunity Knocks
I have written a number of posts on holiday challenges including Valentine’s Day and Christmas. I suggest that folks review these posts in the next week. My clinical observation and I think this is a pretty obvious observation, is that holidays often intensify couples conflict. It’s a bit like the flu season. Exposure to germs is a guarantee; […]
Spotlight on The Heart: Valentine’s Day
What’s Tough About February 14? Besides the possibility of being caught in a winter blizzard, February 14 is the one day a year when the cultural spotlight aims its beams of light on the heart of the relationship. How soft, flattering or harsh the light feels, depends on the health of that heart, year to […]
Tidying Up The Holiday Mess: The Coupledom Hangover
Blight on the New Year: The ornaments are boxed, the ball has dropped and the seasonal remains of the day have been put away yet there remains some unwanted detritus from the holiday past. Those sticky, hard-to-get-off-the-soles-of-your shoes type of goo where some clash or alienation has occurred, either within the Coupledom or between the Coupledom […]
Bracing For Santa: Holiday Performance Anxiety In The Coupledom
Anticipating Complications: If you notice, as the days darken and talk of turkeys and Black Friday fill the air, that your insides have begun to retract and breathing has become a more shallow affair, perhaps you are suffering from Holiday Performance Anxiety. And if the communication between you and your partner about when to leave […]
A Smart Mother’s Day for The Coupledom
Your Mother, Her Day: Mother’s Day is coming and the material world is busy reminding us to commemorate our mothers with flowers, jewelry, breakfast in bed, and dinner out at a special restaurant. Though this tradition of honoring motherhood has ancient roots, the current version began in 1907 when Ana Jarvis, desirous to honor her […]
Valentines With Heart and Humor: A Developmental Approach
A Different Perspective: This will be my third post on the “lovers” holiday and I am stretching my brain to think what I might add to the topic that would be useful here. In the post Valentine’s Day Gifts Take Some Knowing I tackled the topic of gift giving. Valentine’s Day and The Coupledom: Is […]
Aftermath: Cleaning Up The Coupledom’s Holiday Mess
What Was Your Holiday Like? I counted three holiday disasters in my caseload prior to New Year’s and I expect reports of more in the coming days. Disaster may be too strong a word since I believe most “messes” can be worked on and cleaned up with help. Hence the post. But holiday pressure puts many […]
Hanukkah is here… Christmas is coming… Don’t miss these posts from The Holiday Toolkit
The holidays are upon us, and with them, the potential for stressful times for The Coupledom. Whether we are talking about Christmas, Easter, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Passover, Ramadan, Valentines Day or just making resolutions on New Years Day, these posts have been popular in the past and offer useful insights, particularly at this time of the […]
Have a Happy Thanksgiving from The Couples Tool Kit!
Jill is taking a vacation from the Blog this week for Thanksgiving. She’ll be back next week with new posts for both the Couples Tool Kit and Parenting Adult Special Needs: One Day at a Time. We wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving holiday. And if you’re looking for Jill’s posts about the stress […]
Holiday Toolkit 2011: ToolKit of New Years Vows for Relationship 2010
As we all enter the weekend before Thanksgiving, it’s not too early to begin thinking about the end of the year and the health of our relationships. Here is another post about relationships and the holidays from the Holiday Toolkit. Today’s post from the Holiday Toolkit: Excerpt: Take a moment, contrived as it may sound, […]
Holiday Toolkit 2011: The Divorce Survival ToolKit for Children of All Ages
Holidays are stressful times for The Coupledom. Here is another post about divorce and the holidays from the Holiday Toolkit. Today’s post from the Holiday Toolkit: Excerpt: Adult children of divorce as well as their younger counterparts struggle with the new regime, the confusing order of things and benefit from a language and vocabulary that […]
Holiday Toolkit 2011: Holiday Mayhem for the Coupledom?
Holidays are stressful times for The Coupledom. These posts have been popular in the past and offer useful insights, particularly at this time of the year, so we are collecting them here. Today’s post from the Holiday Toolkit: Excerpt: No matter which holiday you subscribe to, whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, Passover, Easter, Ramadan or […]