When Couples Therapy Feels Worse Before It Gets Better
If you’ve started couples therapy and feel like things are worse than before, you’re not imagining it. You’re not failing. Many couples enter therapy hoping that it will immediately calm conflict, restore a sense of closeness, or help them communicate better. Instead, sessions can oftentimes bring up arguments, raw emotions, and conversations that have been avoided for years. Suddenly, everything feels louder, heavier, and more unstable.
What Heated Rivalry Teaches Us About Falling in Love When You’re Afraid to Be Seen
At its heart, Heated Rivalry isn’t necessarily a story about competition. It’s a story about desire colliding with fear, and about what happens when someone wants connection more deeply than they believe it’s safe to want. Ilya and Shane don’t fall for each other because of rivalry, but despite it. The rivalry is simply the structure that allows closeness without exposure, and intimacy without verbally naming what’s at stake. And that’s something many people recognize in their own relationships.
Anxious Attachment or Anxiety? How to Tell the Difference and Begin Healing
It’s a common question I hear in therapy: “Is this just anxiety or something deeper?”
When your heart races after not getting a text back or you feel a wave of panic when your partner pulls away, it can feel impossible to tell. Anxiety and anxious attachment can look and feel like fear, overthinking, and emotional intensity. But, they grow from different places.
Conrad vs. Jeremiah: When a Shutdown Feels like a Rejection
If you’ve been following The Summer I Turned Pretty (like me), you’ve most likely had very strong feelings about the love triangle between Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah. Some people root for Jeremiah’s open-heartedness and outgoing personality, while others feel pulled towards Conrad’s brooding intensity.
But what makes Conrad controversial at times, and yet so compelling, is his safety protocol of shut-down.
When Conrad gets flooded emotionally, instead of opening up, he retreats. He pulls away from Belly, leaving her hurt and confused, and questioning what she means to him. To someone on the outside, this looks like coldness or disinterest. But underneath, Conrad’s withdrawal is a defense mechanism… which is where fiction mirrors real life.
Is It Normal to Stay After Infidelity? What Therapists Want You to Know
When infidelity happens, your world might feel like it’s falling apart. You might find yourself between an overwhelming desire to leave and a voice in your head asking if staying is even possible. People around you might be quick to give you feedback - “once a cheater, always a cheater” or “you have to forgive if you want to move forward.” But the truth is far more complicated. It is normal to stay after infidelity? The short answer: yes. Healing and decision-making after betrayal don’t follow a linear path.
What to Talk About Before Getting Married
Congratulations! You and your partner have made a huge step in your relationship, one that is exciting and uniting, and brings about new changes in your current relationship