Gender


What Porcupines Can Teach Us About Making Love

How do we learn about making love? A book, our parents, porn, movies, TV, social media? How about porcupines? This is a hilarious and insightful video and article about relationships, sex, and making love. I will not add anything; please enjoy the video and reflection on making love....

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Conflict Resolution: Transform Your Conflict Cycle

Most couples struggle with conflict resolution. They may call it communication, anger issues, conflict avoidance, contempt, manipulation, narcissism, trauma response, triggers, etc., but we are often talking about conflict resolution.

"What is conflict? Conflict is a normal part of any healthy relationship. After all, two people can’t be expected to agree on everything, all the time. The key is not to fear or try to avoid conflict but to learn how to resolve it in a healthy way.

When conflict is mismanaged, it can cause great harm to a relationship, but when handled in a respectful, positive way, conflict provides an opportunity to strengthen the bond between two people. Whether you’re experiencing conflict at home, work, or school, learning these skills can help you resolve differences in a healthy way and build stronger, more rewarding relationships." Excerpt from Conflict Resolution Skills.
Conflict resolution skills allow us to shift our conflict cycle to create an environment supportive of connection, safety, trust, and intimacy. Trust is the primary component of successful relationships and connections. Creating or rebuilding trust can take time, patience, and a willingness to step outside our comfort zone through conflict resolution....

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What Are We Fighting For?

What are we fighting for or about? We all need to ask ourselves this question when we conflict with another person, especially a partner or spouse. As a couples and relationship counselor, whenever a couple shares with me about a "fight" they had recently, I often ask them after they have spoken in great detail how their partner was at fault and what they did wrong, "What was the fight about?". Both people start repeating what the other person said and did wrong and how they did it right. The focus is generally on the content rather than what the fight was about....

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A New Study Reveals the Secret of Why Men Fall in Love

Why men fall in love. This is not as obvious as it seems on the surface.

When I was an adolescent boy, I was very confused about what it was that I liked about girls besides their physical appearance. There were girls who I thought were very pretty and attractive, but I had no desire to be with them. Conversely, there were girls that I was only mildly physically attracted to, but they were fun, intelligent, attractive, creative, and forces of nature, which turned me on in a completely different way. When attracted to them, physically, mentally, and emotionally, my brain didn't work well! I was flooded with emotions, feelings, and thoughts that I didn't know what to do with, and felt shame about most of them. Looking back, I am aware that physical attraction was often the starting point. It didn't make sense to me, because I did not have a "type" of girl that I was attracted to. I was confused by how I felt powerless about who I got excited about, and who I didn't.

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I Want To Know How Human You Are

Can we be unmistakenly human? Are we willing to dive completely into the full human experience without holding back? How human are you? I mean, really human without the masks, protections, and deceptions? I invite you to read this painfully beautiful essay on being human by Taylor Rose Godfrey in elephant journal with an open heart and mind....

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Fight Languages: How we Argue Is Key to Healthy Relationships

For those of you that have been reading my posts for a while, you are aware of The Rules For Fair Fighting in Relationships. Many of you know the Five Love Languages Gary Chapman, Ph.D. introduced. If not, you can learn about them easily here What are the 5 love languages? Fight Languages having a name is new to me. I understood the principles but did not have a term to express them. How we fight with our partner(s), friends, family, and neighbors often defines the nature of our relationships. Understanding how your partner or friends/family argue is essential to creating thoughtful, loving resolutions, trust, and safety....

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Honest Sex – An Updated Definition of Sex

Honest Sex. It is time for an updated, honest definition of sex. It is not 1958, and we are not the people we were then culturally. We want honest sex that meets the needs of all of us, not just a few. We look different, dress differently, connect differently, and act differently; we meet our dates and partners differently. Why would we not want to update our definition of sex? Let's explore this article on Honest Sex by Shana James from The Gottman Institute....

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