Therapists’ Blog 4 - Couples Institute

Losing Momentum: After an Affair

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Losing Momentum: When One Partner Keeps Obsessing about the Details of a Partner’s Affair In today’s world of cell phones, text messages and emails, it has become

Losing Momentum: With Passive-Aggressive Partners and their Spouses

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Many therapists dread working with couples where one partner is extremely passive or passive-aggressive. Passive-aggressive partners create a lot of confusion. Commitments are regularly broken, and criticism

Losing Momentum: Do You Start Strong and Then See the Energy Fizzle?

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It’s pretty common to start couples therapy strong. You use your empathy skills and make a good connection with each partner. Each one has a chance to

Losing Control: When Couples Fight

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It is very common for angry partners to come in saying they had a great big fight during the week and they want to talk about it.

Losing Control: It Happens Sooner Than You Think

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Losing control of a given couples therapy session happens sooner and faster than you think. How soon? Often it is in the first few minutes of a

Losing Control: When Couples Sessions Spin Out of Control

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Please think about a time when you lost control of a session. Were you too caught up in your own discomfort, anxiety, or discouragement to contemplate specifically

Working with Early Trauma in the Initiator-Inquirer

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When you are doing Initiator-Inquirer sessions, be sure to watch how partners function in their assigned roles. The combination of the role and each partner’s functioning will

Helplessness Underlies Many Control Struggles

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I am pleased that many readers took the time to think about the last transcript I posted. I enjoyed reading your perspectives and seeing your comments about

What do these 5 relationship challenges have in common?

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Too many couples’ problems are deeply rooted in a complex web of beliefs, hopes, disillusionments, and expectations. “You owe me this.” “I won’t change until he does.”