![20 Rules For A Happier Relationship [EXPERT]](http://images.tangomag.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-full/image_blog/rainbow.jpg "20 Rules For A Happier Relationship [EXPERT]")
From my experience as a psychotherapist for 30 years and a married man for over 20 years, I think of these rules as everything a couple must learn for an ongoing, happy relationship.
![4 Tips For Avoiding Passive-Aggressive Behavior [EXPERT]](http://images.tangomag.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-full/images/nolove.jpg "4 Tips For Avoiding Passive-Aggressive Behavior [EXPERT]")
By Signe Whitson for GalTime One of my favorite stories about passive aggressive behavior in a marriage goes like this: "Cash, check or charge?" I asked, after folding the items the woman wished to purchase. As she fumbled for her wallet, I noticed a remote control for a television set in her purse. "So, do you always carry your TV remote?" I asked.
For divorce to be a collaborative and respectful process, the couple must be prepared to separate their lives on all levels — legally, practically, and emotionally. To do this, each person must face their own divorce dilemma by answering the following eight questions:
No relationship is perfect. We all know this. We're not perfect and therefore our relationships will never be perfect either. That's okay. That's normal. But success in relationships — romantic and otherwise — have a lot to do with proper communication. In fact, most relationship problems are caused by poor communication.
If you feel like you missed the class that taught everything you needed to know about dating and you just can't make these things called relationships work, you may be stuck in some unhealthy romantic patterns.
If you are a "deep thinker", you are always trying to make your relationships better. What could I do better? What could my partner or loved one do better? What dynamics are at play that are not working for us? Sometimes we aren't conscious that these issues exist nor do we admit how much they have been affecting our relationships and our life. We think maybe we did something wrong or not enough of the right things and try and try and try to do things differently.
If I accepted his friend request, I'd get a glimpse into his airbrushed life: his wife, his children, his vacations. But I wondered what my husband would think of my journey down memory lane. It seemed unfair to have an intimate thought that didn’t include him. Yet I was happily married. And the friendship would be innocent, right?
Are you having trouble getting on with your in-laws? You are not alone! The trials and tribulations of trying to live in any kind of peace with your partner's family has been a source of woe for hundreds of years. But knowing that loads of other people have trouble with their in-laws is not much help to you in dealing with your in-laws.
One of biggest differences I see between people who have created happy relationships and those who haven’t is the act of keeping score. If you’re keeping score you may come out on top of your partner, but the relationship will come out on the bottom. In other words, if you’re playing to win in your relationship, you’ve already lost.
For many young people, high school love is full of firsts. You can probably think of a few yourself--first relationship, first kiss, first heartbreak or even the first time. However, we're betting you would have never guessed this first would ever be added to the list. Researchers at the University of Maine performed a psychological study which brought to light a new first for kids in love, and it has nothing to do with magical moments. They found that early relationships can often reveal the first signs of depression.
There's been a lot of talk lately about women's sexual health. Either we're not doing it, or we don't feel like doing it, or don't like the feel of doing it. I fall squarely into that third category, because when it comes to matters of the old in-and-out, my girl parts are afraid of boy parts. Sounds ridiculous, I know. But I have a doctor's note. My condition is called vaginismus. It's basically a gag reflex for your downstairs, or like the mythical vagina dentata, but without the badass peen-chomping teeth. It's goes a little something like this: Say I'm about to get down to business with my best guy. We're hot, we're heavy, we're headed to the bedroom. All casual-like he sidles his yang on up to my yin, and at the first whiff of that quivering member, we have a lockdown situation. My cooter shuts up tighter than a Chinese finger trap. Nothing's getting in. Not nobody, not no how.
