MARGARET THOMPSON

Most people think they need to work on their relationship, together, as a team. .. but this just isn’t true.

If your partner has pulled away and stopped talking to you, you might think there’s nothing you CAN do to turn things around. But one person can transform their relationship, all on their own.

If he won’t address problems or is stuck in negativity and resentment, your instinct might be to defend yourself, carefully explain your point of view or beg for his understanding.

But these efforts never work. Trying to change your partner triggers his resistance, widening the gap between you.

It’s in these challenging moments that your support is essential. You might feel like giving up, but this is when he needs you most. Countless women have healed their partner’s pain because they didn’t give up.

What truly matters is your response to your partner’s distress. His “wall of silence” is often seen as stonewalling, a deliberate attempt to manipulate and control. This interpretation l...

 Most people think smooth sailing and getting along is the key to a healthy relationship, but the exact opposite is true. Relationships thrive when overcoming tension, rather than avoiding it.

 Even in the best marriages, couples fight, say hurtful things or get critical and defensive. Then, they have a conversation where they repair these ruptures and recover. This is known as the Conflict/Repair Cycle. Repeating this cycle throughout your marriage is how relationships grow.

 Unfortunately, not all couples successfully complete this repair process and instead, get caught in cycles of blame and defensiveness. Then, they struggle with emotional disconnection and the distance between them grows deeper.

 Without a repair process, partners don’t feel a sense of acceptance in their relationship and begin to feel unsafe.

But, they cannot connect when they are in fear and protect themselves with negativity. They wait for bad things to happen, react to problems and fall into patterns of bl...