Quiz: Is There Love and Respect in Your Relationship?

Is there enough love and respect in your intimate relationship?  Do you and your partner show each other empathy, support, care, affection, friendship, sympathy and love?  How do you express such emotions, how is that expression received by your partner, and where could you improve in the ways that you express love and respect? Take […]

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Clearing The Air in Your Relationship

Dear Neil:  My relationship with the man I’ve lived with for seven years can get very volatile at times, and tension can build uncomfortably high between us.  There is a fair amount of distancing, withdrawal and irritability between us.  But both of us are conflict avoiders, and neither of us is good at bringing tensions […]

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Quiz: Can You Affair-Proof Your Relationship?

Let’s face it:  it’s pretty easy to be tempted.  Attractive strangers, hot co-workers, charming business associates, sexy acquaintances.  We have lots of possibilities to have multiply affairs all around us if we wish to be tempted. So why do some stray when others don’t?  Take this quiz, courtesy of Pepper Schwartz  in The Lifetime Love […]

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Quiz: These Are My Needs

What are your needs in an intimate relationship?  This is an exercise in self-discovery, adapted from Philip McGraw’s The Relationship Rescue Workbook (Hyperion).  As you recognize and acknowledge your needs, you create a path toward getting those needs met. For every need that applies to you, put X on the line to the left of it.  […]

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What Are The Conflicts/Issues in Your Relationship? Part 1

Note:  This is the first of a two-part series. What are the issues, conflicts or problems in your relationship?  Take the following questionnaire to find out.  Underline all that applies: We are becoming emotionally distant. We have difficulty just simply talking to each other; we are staying emotionally in touch with each other less; I […]

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Quiz: Do You Get Flooded With Anger?

In a conflict with your mate, have you ever been flooded with anger?  When you get flooded, you feel emotionally and physically overwhelmed.  Most likely you think thoughts of righteous indignation (“I don’t have to take this anymore”) or innocent victimhood (“Why is s/he always picking on me?”)  Meanwhile, your heart is pounding, you’re reactive […]

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