Years ago I had a client whose Dad wasn’t very involved. He lived states away, he had a new wife and new, much younger, kiddos, had never been to any extracurricular activity of hers in any way shape or form, couldn’t tell you which school she went to, didn’t make an effort to know about her social life, and rarely foot the bill for anything of hers even though he was “rolling in the dough”….the list goes on.

Conflict gets a bad rap, but when done really well it's actually highly positively correlated with relational satisfaction and ratings of emotional AND physical intimacy.

Sometimes I say smart things. AND, I have LIVED on either side of this. ⁣⁣I intimately understand what it’sa like to slowly untangle layers of unhealthy beliefs about relationships. ⁣⁣You lose people. People WILL go away. Those people who benefitted from you having a lack of boundaries and standards will think there’s something wrong with you.

You're not good at *reading* people. (What does this have to do with this photo?….read til the end)

“THAT IS what you were saying."

I often hear some form of this when couples are revisiting a conflict they couldn't get through in the past week.

Earlier this year I told my good friend I had this strange desire to see a therapist. Me (the therapist) seeing a therapist isn’t the strange part. Despite what you may think, psychotherapists seeking therapy is really common. And trust me, you want the therapist who has worked through her shi….own stuff with a professional, not the one who hasn’t.

You’ve heard insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, but it’s actually how quickly they let you leave the hospital with a newborn when you have your first child.

My family being my friends might be the thing I'm most grateful for this year

I've put together a few expert tips to get you through this most-difficult of family get-together seasons

They screamed so loud the neighbor asked my husband (who was hiding outside) what was going on.

You’ve checked most, if not all of the boxes. A lot is great. On paper, everything looks swell!…but you can’t shake the nagging feeling that you “should” feel better than this.

You're doing more than any one human should and simultaneously feeling guilt and shame about not doing more. I see you.