Marriage problems resulting from chronic illness are common, yet many of us don’t consider that possibility when we are young, healthy, and standing at the altar. But it happens and can put a serious strain on your relationship. It can be exhausting not just physically, but also emotionally and psychologically. You may be stressed about [...]

Relationship problems may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a pet, and there is a reason for that: pets are often good for our relationships! A recent study by the State University of New York at Buffalo found that couples with pets have closer relationships and are more [...]

When finding a marriage counselor, you might think that all counselors are marriage-friendly. After all, it’s in the job title. But not all therapists put an emphasis on keeping the couple together. In my work as a Portland marriage counselor, I believe that your relationship has a better chance if you have someone who is [...]

My years as a Portland relationship counselor have taught me that the best marriage enhancement is spending time quality together. Nothing else helps as much to avoid affairs or divorce. If you are like most couples you experience multiple challenges to finding that time. In the last blog I addressed the interference of media. Today [...]

My years as a Portland relationship counselor have taught me that the best marriage enhancement is spending time quality together. Nothing else helps as much to avoid affairs or divorce. If you are like most couples you experience multiple challenges to finding that time. One major time drain is the interference of media.
Just 20 years [...]

This Portland relationship counselor knows that marriages require an investment of time. The BEST way to prevent affairs is taking the action many people resist…sacrificing other interests in order to spend time with your partner. In his book Take Back Your Marriage, author Bill Doherty sums up the problem and the solution in the subtitle: [...]

This Portland relationship counselor has many opportunities to challenge couples to “put down the magnifying glass and to pick up the mirror”. Let’s look closely at this relationship tip and see what it really means. I have seen hundreds of couples unconsciously engage in the habit of looking at and verbalizing the partner’s flaws and [...]

As a Portland marriage counselor I regularly hear about the challenge of emotions in relationships. Emotional needs, buttons and issues need to be understood in order to feel connected. In addition, each partner must come to see his or her own emotional blind-spots and help to create emotional safety. Consider this relationship advice you must [...]

This Portland marriage counselor hears regularly the sad truth about lagging sexual desire in women. My female clients feel not only guilty that they don’t feel a spark often enough, but they also feel disappointed and cheated.  In an article in Psychology Today explains that while most men have a sexual response pattern of thinking [...]

To get a divorce because love has died, is like selling your car because it ran out of gas. All romantic relationships run out of gas for two reasons. First because we buy into the myth that if the people are right for one another then there the partnership will take care of itself. Secondly, [...]