Help your relationship thrive. Communication is an important aspect of healthy relationships and couples who work on these skills together are sure to have a lasting marriage. Words matter. Back in the late 1960s, a Canadian philosopher named Marshall McLuhan … Continue reading
Words matter. Back in the late 1960s, a Canadian philosopher named Marshall McLuan coined an expression, “the medium is the message,” that struck a chord. The phrase went around the world. In a marriage or committed relationship, words are the … Continue reading
by Laurie Israel I’m a late adopter. While the Netflix-produced political drama “House of Cards” premiered back in February of 2013, and four seasons (totaling 52 episodes) have already aired, with a fifth season in the works, I only started … Continue reading
My mediation practice during the past several years has taken a turn towards mediating prenuptial agreements. Here’s how it happened: At times being the “other” attorney reviewing the agreement sent by the lawyer of the more moneyed spouse-to-be, I noticed … Continue reading
ddddddd As published in The Huffington Post, April, 2014. All married people struggle with disputes that arise in a long-term committed relationship. What to do about the predictable and ever-repeating disagreements and mutual criticisms that come up from time to … Continue reading
Susan K. Boardman, a family mediator based in Connecticut, has been working in the marital mediation field for many years, as a practitioner, teacher, and writer. Her seminal article on marital mediation has appeared in the recent issue of Conflict … Continue reading
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Mediation is not one monolithic technique. Mediators and mediation theorists may categorize different types of mediation techniques into different theoretical boxes, such as “facilitative”, “evaluative” and “transformational”. But the categories all seem to bleed into each other. At its core, … Continue reading
Times Magazine just published an article on the new old age. How might marriage change if humans could live 150 years, which scientists now believe is possible. Will people have several successive spouses? Family therapist Winifred M. Reilly ponders this … Continue reading
As published on The Huffington Post, Divorce section, September 10, 2013. We live in a very fast world. Information is shared instantly. A public figure might do something at 9 a.m., and by 9:15 a.m. it’s all over the Twitterscape … Continue reading
This poster was in Yes Magazine, and is from John and Julie Gottman, of the Gottman institute. Yes Magazine is an online publication with a section on “happiness”.
Modern Lessons from Arranged Marriages, a recent New York Times article, weighs in on arranged marriage, and concludes that parental involvement may be very helpful to choosing a spouse. Robert Epstein, Ph.D., a research psychologist at the American Institute for Behavior … Continue reading
It is estimated that 65% of people who remarry have a child from a prior relationship. In reality, the percentage could be higher because there are no accurate statistics about the number of stepfamilies (when at least one spouse has … Continue reading
Our responses to this week’s marriage chat hosted by blackandmarriedwithkids.com. How should spouses address disagreements? Spouses need to give each other the time and space to be heard and to process what the other is saying. This can’t happen when … Continue reading
Becoming parents is one of the most emotional experiences a couple can share. Parents routinely express that it is one of the happiest moments in their lives. During pregnancy, a lot of time is spent taking care of things for … Continue reading
We read a great interview on NPR about ‘marriage education’. Here’s an excerpt: Because we have a horrible I come out of the marriage therapy world and we have a terrible track record. You know, most couples who go to … Continue reading
Trust is a key ingredient in healthy relationships. Most people would agree that dating someone else is breaking trust and jeopardizing the existence of the marital relationship. Breaking the bonds of financial trust can be equally damaging to a relationship. … Continue reading
