How to Divorce-Proof Your Marriage

Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D. We’ve all seen shocking divorces: those where the couple had everything going for them and seemed to be perfectly matched. From the outside, such couples seem fine and there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong.  On the other side, we’ve seen couples who shock us by staying together when they seem […]

Friendship Before Sex: A New Plan for Finding Love

By Sara Goff “Young love is a flame; very pretty, very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering.  The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deepburning, unquenchable.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher (from RQ Relationship Intelligence by Richard A. Panzer) In my late twenties, I found myself in a two-year […]

Loving Service — The Basic Principle of Magnanimous Marriage

By Krsnanandini Devi Dasi, CFLE A few years ago, my husband, Tariq and I presented a seminar on the concept of what we term “Magnanimous Marriage.”  In such a marriage, husband and wife are actual benefactors for one another. Benefactor is defined as a kindly helper, a person who benefits and supports another. “A happy […]

Thirty Years In: A Reflection on “Soul Mates”

By Jennifer Grant A friend posts a status update, tagging his wife, on Facebook:          A wedding anniversary is the celebration of love, trust, partnership, tolerance, and tenacity. The order varies in any given year. Thanks for 20 YEARS of all the above, my dearest! I think long-married people are less likely […]

Great Expectations — The Real Key to Happily Ever After

By Lisa Wilkes Took the plunge. Ball and chain. Found my soul mate. Happily ever after. You complete me. If you Google euphemisms for marriage, these are some of the phrases that will pop up. With today’s divorce rate nearing 50%, a lasting and fulfilling marriage is often the exception, however, not the rule. So […]

Thinking About Divorce Doesn’t Mean Couples Will Follow Through

By Alan J. Hawkins, Ph.D “Well . . . on a day-to-day basis, that does change because, you know, something might happen and it makes me feel like, okay, I can do this. . . .[T]hen there are days when, its just like, okay, this is just not going to work or we are right […]

Don’t Divorce — Why Mending Your Marriage Makes Better Sense

By Mike McManus Marriage has fallen on hard times. Half of America’s marriages have ended in divorce since 1975 – a divorce rate that is triple that of Britain or France. Dr. Diane Medved offers answers in a compelling new book, Don’t Divorce: Compelling Arguments for Saving and Revitalizing Your Marriage.  It is must reading for […]

Cohabitation: A Growing Problem

By Mike McManus Cohabiting couples believe they are testing their relationships. According to research, many cohabitating couples believe that if their relationship is not strong, they will break up short of marriage, with no harm done, and that cohabitation will enhance the quality of a future marriage. Sadly, both notions are incorrect. However a growing […]

Save Your Marriage — Don’t Even THINK About Divorce!

By Suzanne Venker What’s your attitude toward marriage as an institution? Is it more traditional in nature, or does it match the culture’s more progressive, cavalier view? Your attitude is the single most important determiner of your success in life. Life will throw you a thousand curve balls. So will marriage. But it isn’t the curve balls […]

Screw Monogamy?

By Michele Weiner-Davis Not So Fast. Lately, there’s been a lot of talk about the fact that monogamy is an outdated, unrealistic and suffocating institution.  “After all,” we’re told, “human beings simply aren’t wired to have only one sexual partner.  It’s unnatural, unworkable, unrealistic.” Additionally, even though it’s natural to be attracted to other people, […]