Mary Ellen Goggin
Surviving infidelity can feel impossible, infuriating, exhausting, not-worth-the-effort. And that’s the moment you wake up and remember what’s going on. Surviving infidelity triggers can feel like having coarse salt rubbed into a wound that never gets to heal. For the betrayed spouse, such a Promethean punishment can make the idea of love, trust and happiness…
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A powerful alternative to traditional weekly marriage therapy is a marriage retreat. For couples in crisis, this format can offer an intensive, highly effective start to a sustainable healing journey. Selecting a Therapist Selecting a therapist is an important process for anyone considering psychotherapy. Sometimes the “first impression” of the process can leave a lasting…
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Infidelity changes you. It just does. The betrayed, the betrayer, the marriage — everything morphs. Surviving long-term infidelity, however, is particularly exacting. From admission or discovery to atonement to acceptance, the long-term affair is an inevitable call to action. As if a “moment of indiscretion” or “lapse in judgment” isn’t bad enough, long-term infidelity is…
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Depression affects 1 in 6 people at some point in their lives. And it affects every aspect of their lives. If an unhappy marriage leads to depression in one spouse, the marriage itself is considered depressed. In an indirect way, depression is actually contagious. Because depression in marriage can be caused by emotional distancing, avoidance,…
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Marriage is supposed to be that one sacred place where you can be yourself and speak freely. But when you’re afraid to communicate with your spouse, your relationship and home life can feel more like a prison. It’s not uncommon for one or both spouses in a marriage to have difficulty being assertive in their…
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Two issues top the list of reasons couples divorce: infidelity, followed by finances. Knowing how to communicate with your spouse about finances, then, could do more than ensure the mortgage gets paid on time. It could actually save your marriage. A survey by Ramsey Solutions found that nearly two-thirds of couples start their marriage in…
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If you take your eye off the prize, the demands of daily life can hijack your happiness — and before you know it — you’re in an unhappy marriage relationship. Most often it happens without warning. The thrill of infatuation gives way to the regularity of daily routine. That is normal. But then gradually a…
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If a confidential survey asked, “Are you in a happy marriage?” would you have an immediate answer? What if it asked, “Are you in an unhappy marriage?” Would you be able to answer “yes” or “no” confidently…and explain your answers? Sometimes the middle ground sounds something like, “Sure, we’re happy….Well, we’re not unnnhappy….” If you’re…
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