A Valentine’s Celebration of Real Love You’re sitting across from your partner at dinner. Maybe the restaurant is loud. Maybe they’re telling a story you’ve heard before. And somewhere in the back of your mind, you’re wondering: shouldn’t this feel more… exciting? Here’s the truth nobody tells you about Valentine’s Day: the “magic” you’re chasing—that…
Chapter 2 Have Low-Conflict Conversations About Money and Enhance Intimacy You’ve met your soulmate and decided to get married, engaged, or move in together. But while making plans for your happy life together, you soon discover that you have a spender-saver dynamic and that discussing money evokes a variety of complex emotions such as shame,…
When Rebecca Woolf, author of All of This and the braid on Substack and mother of four, became a widow in her 30s, one feeling struck her as particularly unexpected: desire. Watching her husband lose his life force made her crave the feeling of being alive more than ever. “Eighty percent of my readers told…
What to Expect in Midlife Perimenopause symptoms that signal the beginning of the menopause transition for women happen a lot earlier than many of us expect and not the way we often anticipate. The average age of menopause (the day after a woman has gone a full year without her period) is 51. Everyday after…
Behavioral scientists and relationship experts have amassed a considerable body of research related to the “on‑ramp” of courtship processes (searching, dating, and mating). But by comparison, much less is known about the bumpy “off‑ ramp:” when people exit romantic and sexual relationships, willingly or otherwise. In the digital age, our intimate past lives can live…
The first step toward improving or enhancing your marriage is to understand what happens when relationships fail. This has been well documented by extensive research into couples that were not able to save their marriages. Learning about their failures can prevent your relationship from making the same mistakes — or rescue it if it already…
When we think about what makes relationships last, we often focus on big moments—weddings, anniversaries, major conflicts, or life transitions. But decades of research tell a different story: it’s the little things that keep love strong- the small, repeated moments of connection that matter most. These moments are called rituals of connection—intentional or habitual ways…
It’s a new year, and you may have set resolutions—to get healthier, achieve a goal, or simply find more contentment. These are all worthy pursuits, but as you look ahead, don’t forget to tend to your most important relationship—the one with the person you love. Use this intentional moment to reset, reconnect, and renew the…
In many families, connection doesn’t happen during big, carefully planned moments. It happens in the small, repeated interactions that make up daily life—how we say goodbye in the morning, what happens at bedtime, or how we spend a Saturday morning. Research shows that strong relationships are built through consistent emotional connection. For families, one of…
What is “Protecting Your Peace”? You may have heard this term thrown around on social media, in self-help books, or even in your therapist’s office. “Protecting your peace” is the practice of guarding your mental and emotional wellbeing by distancing yourself from what disrupts it. It means being intentional about where you place your time…
