The new year is exciting for most of us. If you’re like thousands of others, you’ve set goals to get in shape, begin a new diet, or try a new hobby to feel more energetic and confident. However, have you talked to your partner about your relationship resolutions? Since relationships are alive, they respond quickly to changes made by couples who are invested in creating a happier and closer union. You don’t need intense therapy to make this happen. Setting goals and celebratin

No matter who you are or where your relationship is at, you can improve it by making small but powerful changes. Experts in the field of psychology and relationships agree on several tips, and these are my top five. Reminding yourself that the health of your relationship starts with you is the first step to creating one you love being part of. Practice better listening.  Most couples believe they are good listeners and hear their partner, but real listening is about understan

The loneliest most of us ever feel is when we are with someone we don’t care for. A bad date or a bad marriage can make us feel isolated and unloved. Even still, many people go out with people they don’t have feelings for to avoid being alone for New Year’s Eve. After all, who wants to be home alone on New Year’s Eve? According to our culture, it's the one night you are supposed to go out and have an adventure or a kiss to bring in the new year. One of the reasons we don’t wa

It’s a new year and you’re hoping to resolve the past with unreasonable people and work it out. However, that’s not going to happen no matter how hard you try. Unreasonable people are unreasonable and that means you cannot reason with them; but, you can still find peace by changing the way you communicate with them. Below are a few suggestions that will help. These tactics work with co-workers, exes, and family members who can’t see anyone’s perspective but their own. Get ove

For many people, this year is an especially daunting one to face. Perhaps you’re feeling drained or fearful of the year ahead. The past year was filled with politics, stress, distressful rhetoric, and an uncanny sense of being separate as a country, community, and family. You may be grieving the loss of a friend or family member that brought you comfort. Letting go of them leaves you feeling more vulnerable and insecure as you move into 2017. Unfortunately, you cannot stay in

Everyone I know is on a health food kick, and membership at the gym increases every January. Keeping yourself healthy is important, and going for daily workouts and eating clean, nutritious food is medicine for the body, but what about our thinking? Emotional anxiety and depression lead to more social as well as personal problems than any other factor we encounter each day, and yet we rarely consider the importance of making healthy emotional resolutions to begin the New Year

New Year’s brings out the optimist in all of us. We write a list of things we’re going to do differently to become a better version of ourselves. Whether it’s your weight, your work habits, or your parenting, everyone has things to work on. Improving your relationship may not be at the top of your list, but it should be. Every relationship needs to be nurtured for it to improve. The majority of couples linger in relationships they’re not satisfied with because they don’t thin

No matter who you are or where your relationship is at, you can improve it. Experts in the field of psychology and relationships agree on several of them, and this is my favorite list of the top five. Reminding yourself in the New Year that your relationship is created by you is the first step in creating one you love being part of. Practice better listening. Most couples believe they are good listeners and hear their partner, but real listening is about understanding why you