Lauren and Anthony generally have a great relationship. They love each other deeply but struggle with communication. Their challenge is that communication difficulties are subtle,...
03.022021October 25, 2022
27.012021December 2, 2020
Read the Room
By Dr. Richard ReinIn Couples Therapy, Marriage Counseling, Relationship CounselingTags Attacks, Defensiveness
Jack and Eileen were arguing at home when Jack attacked Eileen, Eileen reacted, and Jack said, “Let’s end this.” When they processed this interaction in...
20.012021December 2, 2020
What I Need
By Dr. Richard ReinIn Couples Therapy, Marriage Counseling, Relationship CounselingTags Criticism, Needs
Sue took issue with Jeremy calling her useless. She began to criticize him for name-calling when I stopped her. I suggested that rather than pointing...
13.012021December 2, 2020
Transparency
Christie discovered that Connor was calling another woman. Since Connor had a history of not being honest, this made the issue even more problematic. Connor...
06.012021December 2, 2020
Silent Rage
Alex and Courtney are an engaged couple in their early thirties, living together in the city. One evening Alex was hoping to hang out with...
16.122020December 2, 2020
Feedforward
When couples give feedback to one other, it tends to be negative. The information typically describes what their partner is doing wrong—which is often critical....
09.122020December 2, 2020
Capacity for Change
A client was describing being estranged from his sister. Any consideration of reconciliation was non-existent. The sister was written off. It made me think about...
02.122020December 2, 2020
Not a Smart Idea
Andrea and Ron were enjoying their long weekend at the beach when Andrea was feeling adventurous. Despite it being dark out, Andrea said, “Let’s go...
17.112020November 17, 2020
What’s Wrong? Nothing.
Debbie is pretty intuitive and was sensing something was bothering Chris. When she asked, “What’s wrong?”, he said, “Nothing.” She asked again and his response...
04.112020November 3, 2020
Past Issues
Couples unconsciously bring their past issues to couples counseling, whether it’s childhood issues or issues with past spouses, but couples don’t often talk explicitly about...