Mike is a passionate guy. He’s also emotional. When he reacts to something, he’s intense. His partner Laura is different. She is sensitive, thoughtful, and quiet in her responses. 

Now that we were approaching the tail end of our couples counseling, both seemed more reflective about their personalities and approaches. Mike was working on his initial reaction, acknowledging his response could be exaggerated. Mike also recognized that his initial response might not reflect how he really feels.

Laura experienced Mike’s initial reaction as strong but now understood that it was temporary. Laura grew up in a volatile family, so her former response was to “cower in a corner.” 

Mike was now tempering his initial reaction, and Laura was less reactive to him. With less reactivity, they were able to be more present with one another.