Got alerted to some interesting new research from the University of Illinois today, thanks to HealthDay. Between the ages of 4 1/2 and 6 1/2, your kids are learning to focus and persist at frustrating tasks. If they learn well, school is a lot easier. So is the rest of life, in my experience. Depressed fathers tend to withdraw. If they are depressed when their kids are this age, the kids have a...
Is there something really bothering you about your husband, wife, or life partner? Maybe enough that you’re wondering why you should stay together? Do you feel deprived of romance? Are you sure your mate has no respect for who you are and what you do? Is this a second marriage where your mate just cannot get along with your teen? Do you long for the sort of sex life others seem to enjoy...
There is an interesting discussion on TED.com right now about divorce vs. staying married for the kids. Lydia, who launched it, lays out many of the typical outcomes for the children involved. I suspect you’ve seen all of them in other families. Adesh offers a very popular viewpoint these days: Marry to be happy, divorce to be happy. You should be happy no matter what. Being happy gives you...
If you often feel ignored by your husband or wife, it might be because you married someone for whom curiosity feels wrong. Curiosity is one of the 24 character strengths studied in the Values in Action (VIA) study. This means a large panel of psychologists, historians, sociologists, philosophers, and other researchers found it to be valued across most cultures throughout recorded history around...
Here are some of the experts whose work influences my thinking and my behavior. John Gottman – He’s a well-regarded psychologist who researches what’s different about marriages that survive and marriages that end in divorce. Two big takeaways. First, the ratio of positive to negative interactions between spouses is 5:1 or greater in successful marriages. Interactions include our...
I am a widow who got it right the second time. I have been sharing here since February 14, 2006 what I learned from that experience and from positive psychology, marriage research, and my training as a marriage educator.
