To get closer to your spouse, you usually have to do things that feel a little awkward at first: sustained eye contact, asking vulnerable questions, sharing fears out loud, and touching more than you’re used to. That awkwardness is a sign you’re stepping out of autopilot. Research on closeness, like psychologist Arthur Aron’s well-known “36…
If you want to want sex but just don’t feel like it, you’re far from alone. Low desire is very common, especially with stress, exhaustion, young kids or hormonal changes. The good news is that desire isn’t fixed. Understanding how your own desire works, and changing what gets in the way, can help you get…
If your husband isn’t your best friend, your marriage isn’t necessarily in trouble. Plenty of lasting marriages run on respect, loyalty and attraction while the “best friend” role belongs to someone else. What matters is whether you feel safe, understood and chosen by each other, not whether he holds a particular title. Still, the advice…
In the middle of a fight with your spouse, it can feel like the stakes are sky-high and the problem is unique to your marriage. Looking back the next day, it often seems a little ridiculous. You’re not alone. Most married couples fall into the same handful of fighting traps from time to time. Once…
Marriage myths, like “happy couples don’t fight,” “if it’s right, it should be easy,” or “a baby will bring us closer,” set couples up for disappointment by making normal struggles feel like failure. Believing these relationship myths can make you give up too soon or miss real problems. Here are 10 common marriage myths, what’s…
Losing yourself in marriage happens when your identity, interests, and needs slowly get absorbed into your spouse’s or the relationship’s, until you’re not sure who you are apart from it. It’s common, especially after kids or years of caretaking, and it usually isn’t anyone’s fault. To find yourself in a marriage again, reconnect with what…
Your husband’s love language is the way he most naturally feels loved. Based on Gary Chapman’s popular “five love languages” framework, the idea is simple: people give and receive love differently. If you’re showing love in a way that doesn’t land for him, both of you can end up feeling unappreciated even when you’re trying…
The things your wife most wants to hear are usually simple: that you love her, that you see what she does, that you’re glad to be home with her, and that you’re on her side. The words matter less than the timing and sincerity. A specific “Thank you for handling the school forms; I know…
Kissing every day, a real kiss and not a peck on the way out the door, is one of the simplest ways to rebuild closeness in a marriage. It costs nothing, takes a minute, and often does something talking can’t: it puts you back in your body and back in the moment with each other….
Living with an alcoholic spouse often means broken promises, constant worry, and feeling responsible for a problem you can’t control. You can’t make your husband or wife stop drinking, but you can protect your own wellbeing, stop enabling, set clear boundaries, and encourage treatment. Support for you matters as much as help for them. If…