What can you do to improve the chances that couples therapy is worth the time and money you put into it? In other words, what makes marriage counseling work? Of course you need the help of a skilled marriage therapist, but there are several things you can do to help make your marriage counseling a success.
David Schnarch, PhD, founder of Crucible Therapy and author of Passionate Marriage, wrote about the two choice dilemma. I have to confess that when I read about it, I thought it was redundant. Of course a dilemma involves choosing between two things. Schnarch coined the phrase over a decade ago. He used the phrase to define what happens when you want two things to happen, but only one can actually happen.
A woman's natural lubrication can vary due to a number of factors including stress, birth control pills, other medications, and menopause. A personal lubricant will increase the lubrication making penetration and also masturbation more pleasurable, instead of painful. Utilizing a personal lubricant can also make condoms for reliable and add sensation during intercourse. Studies show that not using a personal lubricant with a condom is the number one reason why condoms do break. What Kind of Personal Lubricant Are Available?
One of the quickest and most assured routes to sexual arousal is through fantasy. We use our imaginative capacity all the time during our waking lives as we envision all the possible futures that our daily life could result in; or even in the most negative of circumstances when we allow ourselves to ruminate and over-think bad outcomes for our relationships and aspirations. Yet when it comes to the mysterious sexual fantasy life that lives somewhere in all of us we often keep the door locked.
FACT: Women do it all the time. Sitting around with their BFF’s and man watching! The cute face, the broad shoulders, the smoldering eyes and mmm, mmm, mmm the muscles! We can’t help that they conjure up naughty thoughts! But after you meet them, get to know them, and look beyond the surface, some men completely disappoint you. Why?
When I was 24 years old I fell madly in love. I was madly in love for three weeks, and then spent the next 30 years struggling to regain and maintain that wonderful feeling. In the course of my long marriage and in the many years I've been counseling individuals and couples, I've learned what it takes to keep love alive, and what diminishes the feelings and experience of love.
More and more I am surrounded by women over 35 years of age who want to get married, but cannot find a suitable partner. They have heard the best places to go for singles over 35, have been set up on numerous blind dates, have joined online dating, and still don’t have a ring on their finger. These women are educated, have a great job, great homes, gorgeous, and would make the perfect wife. What’s wrong? When I talk with these women, many think the problem may rest with the guys.
So, my husband borrowed my body wash, and I am still waiting to get it back. He forgot to buy some during our prior trip to the store and he was yelling from the shower, “I need some soap!!!” I went into the shower carrying my body wash and with a smirk said, “This is all I got, but it smells girly”. He rolled his eyes, yanked it from my hands and closed the curtain.
“It takes a really big man to love a really big scar.” –Carly Simon I worked for nine years in Lubbock, Texas as an intimacy and sex counselor for cancer patients. They taught me more than any textbook or class. I celebrated their success with them, prayed for their healing with them, and sat by their bedside with their loved one when they took their last breaths. Many people would call that a depressing job, but I never lived as fully as when I worked with this population.
COMMUNICATION USING IMAGO By Tammy Nelson, PhD The Imago Dialogue process is a type of communication developed by Harville Hendrix, the bestselling author of Getting the Love You Want, a book about communication and couple’s therapy. The dialogue is a structured technique that you can use to talk to communicate when you are frustrated or just want to feel closer. This dialogue is a wayto talk about conflict in your relationship that lets you each feel heard. To practice the technique, first ask your partner,
