Relationship Articles

The Bridge to Intimacy Newsletter Archive

December 2010: A Family Holiday Survival Guide
Holidays are often a natural recipe for stress: Take the family member who aggravates you the most, add too many parties that you feel obligated to attend, tack on an uncalled for remark, stir in a wailing child, be sure to include a relative who’s imbibed a bit too much, and baste with a heap of judgment about your food, decorations, or gift choices, and you’ve got a set up for an experience that won’t resemble Martha Stewart’s Christmas. Read more

November 2010: 5 Ways to Improve Your Relationship with Your In-Laws
When you gazed into your spouse’s eyes at the altar and said, “I do,” you might not have realized you were also saying, “And I take your mother and father to be in my life forever, too.” Well, guess what? Your in-laws come with the package! Read more

October 2010: Surviving Infidelity
Despite the pain and difficulty of dealing with infidelity, divorce isn’t always inevitable. With the firm commitment on the part of both partners to understand why this breach of trust happened, and the mutual goal to rebuild that trust, some relationships can emerge even stronger. Read more

September 2010: Translation Please: 3 Tips to Become a Better Communicator in Your Relationship
I continue to be in awe of the couples who come to my office for help with their relationships. It takes courage to admit that your relationship is not where you would like it to be and to ask for help. Learning how to communicate with your partner more effectively and to better understand what he or she is trying to communicate to you will help the two of you get your relationship back on track. Read more

July 2010: Turning a Painful Relationship Around Through Couples Therapy
When a couple is involved in an emotionally charged therapy session, what they don’t realize is that it is the cycle, their destructive behavioral loop that is the enemy – not each other. They are caught in a cycle that has a strangle hold on them and are mired in the repetition of reaction and behaviors that is causing distress and distance in their relationship. Read more

June 2010: More Thoughts on Successful Negotiation with Your Partner
I received numerous emails in response to my April Newsletter, “Stop the Blame Game: Learn how to Successfully Negotiate with Your Partner,” asking for more information about this important topic. In this issue, we will continue the discussion. Read more

May 2010: How To Get More Mileage Out Of A Couple’s Therapy Session
One of the most common scenarios that couples lead off with when they come to a counseling session is a “He said, she said” blaming scenario. However, while it is helpful to direct some of your attention toward that argument, what you will find is that rehashing recent arguments is not the most productive use of your therapy time. Read more

April 2010: “Stop the Blame Game”: Learn how to Successfully Negotiate with Your Partner
In healthy relationships, partners are able to talk through disagreements and find solutions that feel good to each of them.  But occasionally an issue arises that is difficult to resolve. Read more

March 2010: The Power of Forgiveness: 5 Steps to Heal Painful Interactions When You Feel Hurt or Betrayed
No matter how hard you try, at some point in your relationship you are going to feel hurt by something your partner said or did. If not addressed, these hurts will lead you further away from the loving relationship you want and keep you locked in the past. Read more

February 2010: On Valentine’s Day and Every Day… Make Your Relationship a Safe Haven – Learn the Language of Love!
Do you feel secure in your relationship? In a healthy relationship, partners develop a secure attachment to one another whereby each person becomes a safe haven and a solid base for the other. Read more

January 2010: Tend the Garden of Your Love!
Not only have we ushered in a new year, we have also begun a new decade. What a wonderful time to take stock of what we have achieved and those things that we would like to work on. How many of us have made lists of resolutions that we steadfastly work on for the first few months of a new year only to watch them slowly evaporate as time goes on? Too often it is exercise and weight loss that people focus on, but relationships need to be tended to as well. Read more

Click here for newsletter archives from 2009.

Click here for newsletter archives from 2008.

Office located in downtown Menlo Park, California. Serving clients in Palo Alto, Stanford, Atherton, Woodside, Redwood City, Mountain View and Los Altos.