Psychology Today

Do you and your partner express love differently? Understanding and welcoming your unique expressions of love can create a magical, long-term relationship.

Texting keep lovers in constant contact, but can it really communicate what true intimacy?

How can we rise above when new intimate relationships don’t pan out, and multiple failures take their toll on optimistic expectations.

We are literally turning ourselves into obsessive-compulsive comparison shoppers as we try to wade through the astronomical array of possible choices of experiences, relationships, material goods, and advice that is literally at our fingertips. We can even rate the raters and compare the comparisons. And yet, we still have trouble trusting the final outcome because there j

Old loves can come together again and be happier than ever.

Evaluate your feelings and decide whether you should end your relationship now or take steps toward turning it around.

Many of my therapy patients are telling me these days that they are overwhelmed and exhausted in ways they have never felt before. They can’t seem to find the time or space to regenerate, and they are overwhelmed with what they feel obligated to accomplish.

All intimate couples fight. The way they resolve those battles will determine the outcome of their relationship. The greatest enemy to resolution is blaming the other partner for the problem. When the people in a committed relationship learn to take responsibility for their own behavior, they are much more likely to succeed.

There are six common behaviors that can damage any loving relationship if they are allowed to continue. The struggling partners I work with have often slipped into these destructive patterns without even realizing it. Had these couples been able to see these patterns earlier, they could have stopped the damage wreaked.

Some people cannot allow their intimate partners to predict their behaviors. They seem to intentionally thwart expectations even when they have participated in the plans for them. The reasons they behave that way defy rational thinking but do have an understandable basis and can be challenged and healed.

Many intimate partners, not able to get what they want using direct communication, resort to other strategies to get their point across. One of the most common is to use another source as the back-up to strengthen the argument. These communication "bank-shots" often work but can undermine true intimacy if they are not challenged and replaced with authentic connection. .

Women have often been the predominant gender initiating divorce. In the past, their reasons have often been role inequality. Millennial men are willingly exchanging dominance for vulnerability. Women are still divorcing them.

Most committed partners marry with the full intent to maintain the promises they've made to each other. Life's challenges intervene, often pushing the partners into a parallel team that makes them forget the sacredness of their interpersonal connection. Regular check-ins to make sure they hold on to the beauty of their beginning can keep that loss from happening.

Early loves leave heartfelt and deep memories. Life intercedes and they are often abandoned, only to re-emerge later in life when nostalgia beckons and opportunities arise. Class reunions have more and more become the place where those chances increase. The conflict between loyalty to a present relationship and an old love an bring anguishing sadness and beautiful joy.