January 18, 2016
by Megan Lundgren, LMFT
For those who gambled their hard-earned money, one big question must be asked:
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November 6, 2015
by Megan Lundgren, LMFT
Once trust is broken in a relationship, what is the balance between forgiveness and throwing in the towel? An effective analysis of the ability of forgiveness to restore trust.
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After years of intensive counseling work with couples at a renown marriage retreat center in Texas, Dr. Terry Hargrave and co-author Terry Pfitzer pioneered Restoration Therapy and published their foundational book describing the concepts and techniques. Developed "from the tradition of Contextual Family Therapy, the Restoration approach provides the therapist with clarity of assessment of individual and relational issues yet utilizes sound mindfulness strategies to produce real and long-lasting systemic change," writes Hargrave.
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July 29, 2015
by Lorna Hecht, MFT
Ashleymadison.com, a well-known website for spouses wanting to have affairs, has been in the news lately. A group of hackers has threatened to post the personal information of its 37 million users if the Canadian site isn’t closed down. As of July 22 the first names of its customers have been released.
This news story once again ignites the age-old question: Why do folks cheat on their spouses?
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Rachel Dolezal (Perez-Pena, 2015) obtained her master degree from Howard University in 2002, a historical black college, that she sued for discrimination because of being she was white female. In 2008 (Perez-Pena, 2015) Rachel began verbalizing herself as African American or a mix of. Since the controversy Rachel Dolezal (Perez-Pena, 2015) was forced to resign as the NAACP Spokeman Chapter leader and no longer an employee of Eastern Washington University where she was a professor teaching African Studies. What many individuals are upset with regarding Rachel Dolezal is the alleged deception. This article is about is not about Rachel Dolezal or her ethnicity status, it is about deception in general and deceptive strategies.
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AMC’s most popular and stylish drama, Mad Men, is approaching its final episodes, and throughout the course of the series viewers have observed suave playboy, Don Draper, reliably destroy relationships with his prolific and alluring love interests. Underneath the façade of mid-century perfection, Mad Men reveals the demise of modern relationship constructs that are only more prevalent today.
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Positive communication is consistently linked to greater relationship satisfaction (Gottman 1994 & 1999). While many couples think communicating what they want sounds too simple. Research indicates that communicating in a positive way is essential to satisfying relationships.
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Brushing problems under the rug or stuffing hurt feelings to avoid a conflict will likely do more harm than good. Those issues and feelings never really go away, they just go underground. Giving our partner the “silent treatment” may result in silence, but also results in no communication. As much as we may dislike or fear conflict, being able to do it well is essential for a healthy relationship.
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One of the most frequent sexual complaints for women is low sexual desire (Ellison, 2001). And one common mistake couples make when trying to fix this or other sexual problems on their own is jumping to solutions without taking time to understand the reasons for the low desire, then putting a band aid on something that needs stitches. This quite often just leaves a scar.
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December 27, 2014
by Megan Lundgren, LMFT
Although many Americans are familiar with the most commonly cited causes of divorce (communication, financial stress), the contributors to a happy marriage are less publicized. Perhaps this cultural fascination with divorce is influenced by the shock-value of what have now become notorious divorce statistics: about 50% of all marriages end in divorce.
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