“I don’t put the dishes away. “I don’t spend enough time with the kids. “She doesn’t feel like I’m on her team. “It’s endless. Sometimes I wonder why she even stays married to me,” Jack says. Does your wife complain about you? “Why does she stay married to you? Have you asked her?” I say. Jack takes a deep breath. […]
Tony’s been married for 12 years. He’s lost his identity in his relationship. “Some days, I just want to hit the eject button. To just get out of this mess I’m in.” Tony doesn’t understand how he’s landed at the age of 46 into a functional life – work, pay the bills, take care of the kids – and a […]
Rick wants his wife to know her place and stop nagging him all the time. He believes inherently by being a man that he has a right to peace and quiet. He is the old-school masculine guy. Tom, on the other hand, tries to not upset his wife hoping that she’ll love him back. He believes if he upsets her […]
This is firsthand. I’ve been there. The brutal nature of feeling like the one person – your wife or partner – to whom you’ve limited your sexuality has closed the door on that part of your life. She’s no longer interested in sex. She says she can’t be physically intimate if she doesn’t first feel emotionally connected. Or she just […]
Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. Ever heard the expression? If so, then you may understand like my client Mauricio did, that in relationship, the saying applies doubly so. Mauricio would get into an argument with his wife and then for hours afterward, he would beat himself up. He’d spiral into fear about how his wife would deprive him of […]
My wife said A. I said B. We got into a fight. I got angry. I said some things I wasn’t proud of. We went to sleep that night on opposite sides of the bed. The next morning, I felt like a scared kid, afraid of even saying hello to her. Would she bark at me, ignore me, or something […]
Fear. An emotion that goes underground for most men at a young age. It happened to me when I was just 5 years old. It was then that I first learned fear wasn’t okay for a boy. I remember my older brother, who was eight at the time, said to me, “What are you afraid of, you little baby? Little […]
“My wife always has to be right.” “She doesn’t respect my opinion.” “My wife always gets the last word in.” These are the exact words I heard from multiple men in the last few months. If you can relate to any of these statements, it’s likely you’re with a strong-spoken woman. Do you feel as if your wife has to […]
Men. Many of us often cruise along in our marriage. As long as we’re having sex occasionally and the house isn’t on fire, we’re fine with how things are. We don’t think much more about our marriage. Then there’s another group of guys in the marital battle zone. No sex. The house is on fire. And in response, they try […]
Ben was a successful account executive in his company. A fierce competitor. He pushed hard to go after what he wanted. He was a great connector when it came to people. At work, he was confident and capable. He loved what he did. Yet at home, it was a totally different story. At home, he lived in fear. Fear that […]
