Tuesday, January 6, 2015

The Most Common Relationship Problems, and How Talk Can Help

Expert Advice for Readers Who Need Help Broaching Sensitive Subjects With Loved Ones

Try reminding your loved one about the fun conversations you used to have together before you were constantly interrupted by a smartphone. Michael Sloan
Relationships can be wonderful—and challenging. We all feel uncertainty or dissatisfaction in our relationships from time to time. Some of the toughest conversations we have are with those we love the most.
Readers often ask me for the right way to handle a relationship problem or broach the subject with a loved one. I took the most-common questions I received this year and asked experts for advice.
My loved one won’t put down his or her phone (or tablet or laptop) and it is ruining our relationship. What can I do?
Tell your loved one that you want to talk for a few minutes without any phones on, and that the discussion is very important to you, says Sharon Gilchrest O’Neill, a marriage and family therapist in Mount Kisco, N.Y.
Ms. O’Neill suggests telling “in a story fashion” how nice it used to be when your phones didn’t disrupt wonderful conversation and fun exchanges. But it has been awhile since your great conversations could go uninterrupted by your loved one picking up the phone and chatting or texting with someone else.
Refrain from using words such as “offend,” “disrespect,” or “terrible behavior,” she says.
Make the point that we all have times when we are waiting for an important call from a doctor or from work, and you understand everyone needs to take those calls.
Another helpful line, she says: “Can we just keep our phones in our bags? I’m so happy we found the time to meet, and I am looking forward to making the most of it.”
For families, Ms. O’Neill suggests setting some rules: The family meal must happen with all technology turned off. Spouses set a curfew for turning off technology. Shut down everything one night a week.
Watch your own behavior. If you want people to put away their screens, you need to put away yours.
How can I get my wife to have more sex with me?


Get out of your “all or nothing” mind-set, where you avoid touching unless you are going to have sex: Touch itself it can bring on desire. Michael Sloan
The best place to discuss sex is outside the bedroom, says Barry McCarthy, a Washington, D.C., psychologist and sex therapist who has written books about nonsexual marriages and how to prevent them. (I have heard from women with this question about their husbands. This advice works for that scenario, too.)
Never talk about sex right after sex—unless you have only good things to say. The discussion may take more than one conversation. It took a while to reach an impasse, and it will take some time to move beyond it.
First of all, you need to sleep in the same bed, says Dr. McCarthy. Then get out of your “all or nothing” mind-set. A lot of couples avoid touching if they aren’t going to have intercourse, he says. But touch itself it can bring on desire.
Schedule times to be physically intimate—80% of married couples do, Dr. McCarthy says.
If there is something you are embarrassed to talk about, get a how-to book. Put sticky notes on pertinent pages. And add a message: “This embarrasses me to talk about, so I thought I would show you.”
Don’t blame your partner. Just describe the problem—“You seem so much less interested in sex than you used to be.” Ask if your partner has noticed this as well. Never say, “If you loved me you would…”
Tell her what you love about her. Remind her of times when you had great sex and both loved it. Get the conversation flowing first.
How can I get my husband to go to therapy?

Men often feel that in therapy, they will be blamed. Explain that the goal of therapy is to provide tools for coping. Michael Sloan
Many men agree to go to therapy only after their wife mentions divorce, says Howard Markman, professor of psychology at the University of Denver and co-author of “Fighting FOR Your Marriage.” (Once in a while I hear from a man who can’t get his wife to go to therapy. This advice works in that scenario too.)
The first step is to find a therapist who focuses on building skills, creating ground rules, talking more and fighting less, Dr. Markman says. Men are goal-oriented, so find a therapy that has an end in sight.
Many men feel they will be blamed. It’s important to explain that the goal of therapy is to give you tools to cope. “Husbands hate to come to therapy, pay high fees and then fight,” he says. In his practice, Dr. Markman focuses from the first session on stopping the fighting and increasing fun and friendship. He gives homework: Go on a date, give each other a massage, take a few walks, watch a movie at home.
If your partner still refuses, suggest a relationship education class. Relationship education classes focus on ground rules for handling conflict, as well as on fun, friendship and sensuality, but partners don’t discuss personal issues. Often, if a husband feels that the couple benefited from an education class, he will be more open to therapy, says Dr. Markman, who runs a research-based relationship program you can take online.
Consider going to couples therapy alone. This is different from going to individual therapy. Set up a time you think is convenient for your partner, in case he decides to attend.
Research shows that often just one partner going to couples therapy can help the couple, because that person will go home with new relationship skills and teach them to her husband.
How can I tell if the person I met on an online dating site is fake?
As with many relationship issues, the first step is to listen to your gut. If something seems off, it probably is.
Have you noticed inconsistencies in the person’s story? Either way, it pays to check ‘digital puzzle pieces’ on social media and public sites. Michael Sloan
Does the person change the subject when you ask detailed questions? Have you noticed inconsistencies? They comment about being an only child, only to gripe later about an argument with a sister. Do they make excuses as to why they can’t send photos, talk on Skype or meet up?
These are all questions to ask yourself, says Tyler Cohen Wood, a social media expert who works as a cyber branch chief for the Defense Intelligence Agency. “It is very hard to keep up a fake persona and inconsistencies will slip out,” she says.
Check that the person has an appropriate number of “digital puzzle pieces” on the Web. Does he or she have social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other sites? Does he banter with friends, exchange inside jokes or get tagged in photos?
People who are telling the truth are more likely to discuss details of their job, relate funny anecdotes, mention deadlines or give other details about their day, says Ms. Cohen Wood, author of a 2014 book “Catching the Catfishers: Disarm the Online Pretenders, Predators and Perpetrators Who Are Out to Ruin Your Life.”
Ask the person to send you photos. Do a photo search using a tool such as Google Image Search to determine if that photo appears on someone else’s social-media site.
Copy the person’s email address or parts of his or her profile or messages and paste them into a Google search to see if they show up elsewhere.
Make sure the person shows up in public searches, Ms. Cohen Wood says. If he says he owns a house, does it show up on Zillow.com?
Perhaps the biggest red flag is if the person asks a lot of questions about money or asks you to send money. “Do not ever send money to anyone you meet online unless you have first vetted them,” Ms. Cohen Wood says.


Wednesday, May 22, 2013


Couples Therapy Can Help You Realize the Greatest Advantage to A Mutual Relationship

A common cause of unequal relationships – one that I see often in my couples therapy practice — is a belief by one or both partners that they are superior to the other. These couples often subscribe to simplistic gender stereotypes of the “Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” variety, or the idea that opposites attract as a way to explain how such a caring, and loving person (themselves) ended up with such a selfish, distant, and unloving person (their partner). The fact is they end up with such a person because of the kind of person they really are, not the sort of person they try to seem to be.
By buying into the “Difference Game”, which I write about in my book “We’d Have a Great Relationship If It Weren’t for You”, these people are turning their relationships into a competition as a way of artificially boosting their ego and self-esteem. Instead of trying to “win” their relationship in couples therapy, they should be using their valuable couples therapy time to build a more intimate, equal, and mutual relationship.
A mutual relationship is one where both partners consider themselves as equals, and consider the needs of the relationship in addition to their own personal needs and those of their partner. Mutual relationships are characterized by a couple that forms real agreements, where both partners discuss issues respectfully, understand each other’s point of view, and eventually come to an agreement on an emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual level. There also characterized by couples who think of themselves collectively, as one relationship comprised of two individuals rather than as two individuals who happen to be in a relationship.
One of the benefits of starting to build a mutual relationship as you attend couples therapy, is that your partner will start to change from adversary to teammate as the game changes from trying to be the best individual in their relationship, to trying to build the best relationship. As you begin working together, in couples therapy and in your daily life, rather than against each other, you can start to leave off all of your emotional armor. Emotional armor, much like physical armor, is heavy, cumbersome, and shouldn’t be necessary in your own home.
Another benefit of developing a mutual relationship is that it provides an almost certain end to the love-hate relationship dance so common in the couples I see in couples therapy. Mutual couples are emotionally proactive, rather than reactive, which means instead of reacting to their partner with fear, anger, or other negativity, they proactively look for ways to promote positive emotions in the other. This much healthier way to interact is often responsible for turning what was previously a battlefield into a paradise.
The greatest advantage, however, to a mutual relationship is that it gives a couple the tools they need to know, and accept each other honestly. Nothing is more rewarding than the honest acceptance of your true self by the person you love.


Wednesday, July 18, 2012


 Marriage Therapy: Going the Distance

Written by: Lane Gormley, EdS, LPC, NCC

Marriage Therapy is never easy because it doesn’t happen until something has gone wrong in what presumably is, or at least was, the most important relationship in our life. Some instances of marriage therapy that I facilitated were brief and relatively painless. There was one couple who came for only five sessions of Imago Therapy. During a third-session discussion of childhood caregivers, each of them saw suddenly and clearly the misunderstandings that they held with respect to their partner’s behaviors. Their mutual relief was almost palpable: “Oh… Is that why he does that!!!!!” They left therapy after two more sessions with the understanding that, should further issues arise, we are always available to help them. I have not seen them since; but I did get a Hanukkah card saying that all goes well.
Other marital issues are less easily resolved. In cases where there are serious complications, there may be no easy or clear-cut solutions. We can go through the “method” (whichever one we are using) until the cows come home; but anger is not gone until it is gone, and trust is not regained until it is regained. Period.
Here is the story of the longest marriage therapy in the history of my career. It went on for almost a year; and there were midwinter days when the atmosphere in my office felt as cold as the weather outside and when the three of us did not think the therapy or the marriage would survive until spring.
Mark and Moira H. (* not their real names) were close friends as well as lovers at the time that they married. Eleven years and two little boys later, their relationship and their family was in danger. Moira was working hard to overcome an addiction to narcotics. Mark found himself unable to trust the wife who had disappointed him again and again. For two years, he had tried desperately to control his wife’s addiction to drugs. They moved to Atlanta from Birmingham to be far from the dealers and friends who enabled her. He tried everything, and then he gave up. He said repeatedly in session, “I tried and tried, and now I’m done.”.
Moira, in becoming sober, faced challenges of her own, including Mark’s suspected interest in another woman. Although shaken, she showed as much determination to regain her husband’s trust as to remain sober. She said to me, “Put us on your calendar every week for the next year. We are coming here until this works.”
Sessions were painful, requiring brutal emotional honesty about the most intense and wrenching feelings of helplessness and vulnerability that people can face. Moira refused to give up no matter what. Mark was honest enough to express his anger and sense of betrayal again and again. He would not pretend to forgive. One evening, Mark grew angry because he felt pressured to “get over it”. He said, “I am not saying another word this session”, and he did not. He sat stony-faced while Moira cried at remaining unforgiven. I tried to explain addiction to him, that it was an illness and not a moral flaw; but he did not, would not, pretend to understand something that was incomprehensible to him. The weeks became months. A gray February seemed to last several years. And then…
Something happened. Moira was crying in her bedroom, feeling unwell, and Mark hugged her. In my office alone the next week, she was tearful with relief. Then one day there was laughter. There was a vacation with other couples that turned out well when Mark made his allegiance to his wife clear to their friends. And then, strengthened, they re-became the couple they once had been.
In one of our last sessions, Mark hit upon an essential truth: when anger is correctly processed, it dies a natural death. Otherwise, it simply goes underground to become latent and toxic hostility. After months of working on his own anger, he told me, “The other day, while we were in session, I just thought, ‘This is silly. Let’s move on’”. Mark’s patient work in therapy had outlasted his anger.
What did it take for Mark and Moira to heal their marriage? I believe that it took courage, patience, hard work, unflinching emotional honesty, and love. So much love. For me, their therapist, it was a long and hard lesson in process. But it was worth it. Relationship is always worth it. Marriage is always worth it. If you have relationship or marital issues and wonder if it is worth the trouble to resolve them, I can’t tell you what to do. But if you are like me, if you think it is worth it, why not give it your all? Why not go the distance?

Source: http://www.rhcounselingservices.com/2012/07/11/marriage-therapy-distance/

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Some Couples Seeking Financial Therapy To Cure Money Woes


BOSTON (CBS) – Money is often the biggest source of conflict within any marriage. Some couples are now getting help so they can call a truce when it comes to their financial objectives.
Paige Buck and her husband are happily married, but it seemed that any talk of money was filled with friction.
“We weren’t happy with the way we talked about money,” she added.
The Buck’s decided to take a new approach and went to see a financial therapist instead of a psychologist. This is a growing trend in which money and feelings are discussed openly with a professional.

“Financial therapy is the place where money and couple personalities connect, when there’s a difference between what we know and what we do,” said Saundra Davis of the Financial Therapy Association.
A financial therapist will identify and treat emotional blocks which can stress a marriage.
Therapist Olivia Mellon says common problems include “overspending, money avoidance, money worry, excessive hoarding and saving, inability to communicate about money.”
Paige felt the focus on communication was important. She realized she and her husband felt guilt over how they spent.
There are no certifications to become a financial therapist. It’s important to do your homework before you sign up with anyone.
Davis added, “The term financial therapist is not a clearly defined term. It is an emerging field, so what we have is a collaboration of financial planners, therapists, coaches, and other professionals who work together.”
Paige believes this type of therapy made her marriage stronger. “We’re saving for short term and long term goals that we never faced and even had the courage to look at before.”

Source: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/06/05/some-couples-seeking-financial-therapy-to-cure-money-woes/

Friday, June 1, 2012


Helping ease the marriage money woes

Financial stress can lead to relationship stress

Updated: Tuesday, 29 May 2012, 3:27 PM CDT
Published : Tuesday, 29 May 2012, 3:27 PM CDT
AUSTIN (KXAN) - A Wimberley couple, Jim Overschelde and Tambra Nelson, had been happily married for 22 years, when they decided to see a therapist.
It was not a typical therapist, however. Discussions about spending often thrust the couple into an argument, and they were ready for that to change.
“Getting angry, not feeling heard. I want to put money in savings. Yes, but we have to pay off our debt…back and forth, back and forth,” said Nelson.
It’s a common problem for couples as money woes are often a major cause of marital stress and divorce, experts say. And, they add, that’s especially true in a down economy.
They say that’s why an increasing number of couples are seeking help from financial therapists, also known as money coaches. Overschelde and Nelson signed on with Austin money coach and certified public accountant Jennifer Jaime.
Jaime, whose office is in Austin, started with helping the couple compromise on some common financial priorities and goals. She also taught them how to track their spending carefully so every dollar is accounted for.
“It helps for me to come in and give that objective approach to say this is what I see from the outside looking in,” she said.
Jaime also helped them establish a language and boundaries that took the conflict out of discussions about money.
There are no certifications necessary for someone to claim to be a money coach because the field is still emerging. The Financial Therapy Association advises couples to choose a money coach they trust and who has a certification in a finance-related field.
Overschelde and Nelson did trust Jaime, and they say her advice paid off for them.
“We’ve made some substantial inroads into paying off our debt, putting money aside in savings,” Overschelde said,
Added Nelson: “Having a language that works helps, instead of pointing fingers at each other. It really does.”
The Financial Therapy Association says money coaches can charge from $50 to $350 an hour. Many times, experts say, they are willing to work within a couple’s budget.

source : http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/austin/helping-ease-the-marriage-money-woes




[BONDS: ON RELATIONSHIPS] CBS/Getty Images
Even Bob and Emily Hartley, on '70s TV's 'The Bob Newhart Show,' found some conversations difficult.
Lately, when I've been talking with readers about their marriages and long-term relationships, I hear the same question over and over. "How do I say I'm not satisfied with our sex life?"
Some say they are unhappy because they have little or no sex in their marriage. Others wish they could find the nerve to tell a partner about sexual fantasies or what they really want to do in bed. Most worry their spouse doesn't notice there is a problem and that they feel unfulfilled.

Live Chat Recap

Bonds columnist Elizabeth Bernstein and two therapists chatted with WSJ readers about how to talk about sex, especially when things have gone wrong. Read the full transcript.
You'd think it would be easier. Sex talk is omnipresent in our culture. We can read sex tips in popular magazines and listen to TV talk-show hosts joke about the latest political sex scandal.
But it's rare to see examples of someone discussing sex with the person he or she actually has sex with. "Talking about sex as a personal, intimate experience with your partner is a totally different kind of talk," says Barry McCarthy, a Washington, D.C., psychologist and sex therapist who has written books about nonsexual marriages and how to prevent them. "You have to be open to talking about what you value and your vulnerability," he says. No one teaches us how to do that.
How much sex is "normal" in a long-term relationship? Almost 80% of married couples have sex a few times a month or more: 32% reported having sex two to three times per week; 47% reported having sex a few times per month, according to "The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States," a 1994 University of Chicago study considered the most comprehensive in the field.
Married couples have more sex than either dating couples or co-habitating couples, other research has shown. When sex therapists talk about a nonsexual marriage, they mean a couple having sex fewer than 10 times a year, Dr. McCarthy says.
Sex is important but not necessarily at the core of what binds couples together. It energizes the relationship, making each person feel desired and desirable, and serves as a buffer against trials and difficulties, Dr. McCarthy says. When a couple avoids or is conflicted about sex, the disconnection can play an inordinately negative role, he says. Often, if you can repair the sexual bond, the relationship improves as well.

Let's Break It Down

It helps to understand that sex is more than physical. Gina Ogden, a marriage and family therapist and sexologist in Cambridge, Mass., has couples draw a circle and divide it into quadrants.
For each area, she asks the couple to 'say where you were when you met, and where you are now.'
Physical. 'Is your back hurting?' 'Are you comfortable having sex since you gave birth?'
Emotional. 'I'd like to know more about your feelings.'
Mental or cultural. 'Were you raised to believe sex was bad?'
Spiritual. 'What is the meaning of sex in your life?'
Love's initial romantic phase lasts anywhere from 18 months to three years, experts say. During this time, our hormones are out of control. We are intoxicated with our partner and find it easier to talk about sex.
But in a long-term committed relationship, talking about intimacy is more difficult. "Earlier in a relationship, by contrast, "we don't feel like we're springing new or buried parts of ourselves on them," says Bat Sheva Marcus, licensed master social worker and clinical director of the Medical Center for Female Sexuality in Purchase, N.Y., and Manhattan.
Sexual problems can crop up for emotional and/or physiological reasons, whether it is stress from work and child-rearing, lack of time, medical issues, past sexual trauma or aging. Many couples get stuck in a rut where sex is all or nothing.
Pamela and Kai Madsen, of Riverdale, N.Y., have been married 30 years. They fell in love when she was a high school senior and he was a midshipman at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. "Think 'Officer and a Gentleman'—a man in a white dress uniform showing up at my graduation with three dozen red roses," says Ms. Madsen, 50 and an author and blogger about topics including female sexuality.
They had trouble having children. Ms. Madsen underwent fertility treatments during which she gained weight and ended up feeling damaged and unsexy. They worked hard—Ms. Madsen as the founder of an advocacy organization for fertility issues, Mr. Madsen in information technology—and eventually raised two sons. They considered their marriage strong and warm.
About 10 years ago, Ms. Madsen started to feel unhappy and unfulfilled. The couple rarely had sex—and when they did, it was "efficient," Ms. Madsen says. Her husband, 54, says, "We knew exactly what was going to happen every time we had sex."
Ms. Madsen went to bed around 8:30, woke up at 5 and liked to have sex at night. Mr. Madsen went to bed at midnight, woke up at 7 and liked it in the morning. When his wife asked him to come to bed earlier, he explained that he was still working. "I acknowledged that we needed to schedule time to have sex more often, but realistically, not much changed," he says.
Some of Ms. Madsen's friends were having extramarital affairs and encouraged her to do the same. "I wanted to feel sexually alive again, too," she says. Instead, she decided to try sex therapy, and several therapists helped her explore her desires. She read erotic books. She discovered that sexual fantasies and role-playing about bondage turned her on—and she has since written a book, published last year, about exploring her sexuality within a monogamous marriage titled, "Shameless: How I Ditched The Diet, Got Naked, Found True Pleasure and Somehow Got Home in Time to Cook Dinner."
It took six months, though, for Ms. Madsen to get up the nerve to talk to her husband about her realization. She blurted it out one night in the kitchen over a pot of chili. "I love you but there is something I need to tell you," she said.
Mr. Madsen says he was stunned and hurt. "My first reaction was, 'Why? What am I not giving her?' " His wife said her dissatisfaction wasn't a reflection on him and invited him to accompany her to a therapy session. They talked about her fantasies and his feelings about them. They learned what turns her on doesn't do the same for him—and that is OK. They feel sure the frank discussion of sex made their marriage stronger, in and out of bed.
Some couples are so estranged that not only don't they have sex, but they also don't sleep in the same bed or even touch each other. Experts say when intimacy has eroded this much, the couple may need professional help. Not all marital therapists have experience with sexual issues, though. Two groups that can help are the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists or the Society for Sex Therapy and Research.
To jump-start their sex life, couples need to start by sleeping in the same bed, experts say—no kids, no pets. Spontaneity is great, but 80% of married couples schedule time to have sex, says Dr. McCarthy—preferably when not dead tired.
Try showing more physical affection. "A lot of couples don't have any touch if they aren't going to have intercourse," says Dr. McCarthy. "But touch has value in and of itself and can be a bridge for desire."
And if there's something particular that feels too embarrassing to talk about, get a how-to book. Put sticky notes on pertinent pages. Add a message: "This embarrasses me to talk about, so I thought I'd show you." With a smiley face.
Breaking the Ice
Having trouble discussing problems in your sex life with your spouse? Here are some ways to make it easier.
Be gentle.Need an opening line? 'I love you, and I'd like to feel more connected to you.'
Never discuss sex right after having sex (unless you have only good things to say). Sex therapists say the best place to discuss sex is out of the bedroom—in the kitchen while making dinner, on a walk, taking a drive.
Realize that the discussion may take more than one conversation. You don't have to knock it out all in one sitting.
Don't ascribe blame.Don't psychoanalyze. Just describe what you feel is the problem. 'You seem much less interested in sex than you used to be.' Ask if your partner has noticed this as well.
Tell your partner five to 15 things you really like about him or her. Never say, 'If you loved me, you would…'
Write to Elizabeth Bernstein at Bonds@wsj.com or follow her column at www.Facebook.com/EBernsteinWSJ.
A version of this article appeared May 29, 2012, on page D1 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: What Couples Want to Know But Are Too Shy to Ask.

Saturday, May 26, 2012


Couples Therapy Program at the Training Institute for Mental Health



Couples Therapy Program at the Training Institute for Mental Health
115 West 27th St 4th floor
New York, NY 10001- 6217
Albert J. Brok, Phd, Director
Madaleine Berley, LSCW : Assistant Director
212 627 – 8181, 212 580 -3086

Drajbrok

The Couples Therapy program offers one and two year certificates in Couples Treatment to mental health professionals who are interested in improving their clinical skills. Fellowships covering courses and workshops are available.
Training consists of a sequence of seminars focused on clinical work with couples using our understanding of interpersonal and inter-subjective interactions along with recognition of individual psychodynamic diagnostic issues. The relevance of cognitive techniques is also stressed.
Basic courses include: Issues in Couples Therapy, Group Supervision of Couples Therapy, Short and Long Term Couples Therapy, Readings in Theory and Practice of Couples Therapy as well as specific focus courses on Relational Concepts, Integrating Psychoanalytic and Systems Approaches in Couple and Family Therapy and a Special Video/film Seminar on intervention processes in Couple Therapy.
Also available are various Elective short seminars
in the following areas:
Object Relations theory in treating Couples,Sexual Abuse Histories and Couple Dynamics,
Self Psychology and Relational approaches to Couple work.
Readings and Tutorial in Couple Therapy.
Film Discussion Programs sponsored by the Advanced Study Group on the Clinical Relevance of Relationship Styles are given throughout the year.
Required for Two year Certificate :
Basic course work, Supervision of Couples work through our clinic or in one’s Private practice, Individual supervision, Personal Group therapy and the completion, by the end of the second year, of a ten page paper on any aspect of couple therapy.
Advanced Training beyond the two year certificate is also available in becoming a supervisor of Couple therapy
Courses can be taken on an individual per seminar basis.
Fellowships for the twoyear program cover all course work and workshops. Individual Supervision and personal group therapy are paid
Separately. The Fellowship program requires each candidate to give 3 hours to see couples through our clinic.
Tuition on a private basis, is approximately $1,800 per year.
For further information/ application contact
Dr. Albert Brok at 212 580 3086 or email DrAjbrok.