The Five Winning Strategies in a Relationship
Keep having the same fight over and over? Learn how to break that cycle! Terry Real's five winning strategies offer a different way forward.
The Five Losing Strategies in Relationships
You've had this argument before. Maybe it started with the dishes, or a late reply, or a tone of voice. Within minutes, it has stopped being about any of those things. One of you is defending, the other is pulling away, and you both walk off feeling more alone than when you started.
So what separates the couples who can move through moments like this from the ones who keep replaying them?
Seek To Understand, Then To Be Understood
One of the most common themes that arises in the therapy room - and in nearly every kind of relationship we experience from intimate partnerships, parenting, friendships, workplaces, or community - is the longing to feel understood.
The Spark Myth And What Else to Look For When Dating…
The spark can be a beautiful starting point, a signal that something has our attention and is worth exploring. But while chemistry can open the door, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Spark without substance isn’t wrong, it’s just incomplete.
Boundaries - Create Secure Connection Through Self-Allyship
In part one of this mini-series on boundaries, we explored what boundaries are, what they are not, and how to take them. In theory, this can look like a clear roadmap, but in reality, it can leave many feeling more lost. When we turn inward to identify our boundaries, we can find that our edges are unknown even to ourselves. We sometimes find our limits only when we have been pushed to the very edge, and they come roaring at us, finally having had enough. If this is you, you are not broken or alone.
Boundaries, Part One - Building The Bridge to Connection
I often invite clients to imagine their boundaries as bridges to authenticity and connection. Boundaries help us locate the edges of where we end and others begin. They keep us grounded in our values, needs, limits, desires, and emotional experience while allowing others to stay grounded in theirs.