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Can You Save An Unhappy Marriage?

By Mary Ellen Goggin / December 6, 2021
Woman laying on bed feeling depressed about her unhappy marriage.

Can you save an unhappy marriage?  You can forgo a lot of reading with this simple yes.  Should you save an unhappy marriage? Flip a coin, and you’ll find arguments (and merit) on both sides. How do you save an unhappy marriage? Here is where your reading begins. I’ve written on this topic before, of…

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6 Reasons Surviving Marital Infidelity Requires Therapy

By Mary Ellen Goggin / November 22, 2021
Woman sitting lakeside with her husband talking about surviving marital infidelity.

You’ve got a choice to make. It doesn’t even matter who did what. You’re standing at a three-tined fork in the road, and there’s no turning back. One of you betrayed the other and your marriage, and the only secrets left undisclosed are the details. “Surviving marital infidelity” is now the tagline for your day-in-the-life-of…

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How To Gain Self-Respect In A Relationship

By Mary Ellen Goggin / November 15, 2021
Cracked wall painted with with the word respect sloppily stenciled on it.

Relationships. They draw us in, bind us together, dangle possibilities before our star-struck eyes. They also expose us for who we are and can be. Relationships strip us to the nakedness of vulnerability – that iffy space that can both heal and hurt. Do you find yourself or lose yourself? Do you know how to…

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7 Reasons Learning How To Communicate With Your Spouse Will Improve Your Relationship

By Mary Ellen Goggin / November 3, 2021
Couple enjoying a conversation as they prepare a meal.

Remember your anniversary. Check. Have a weekly date night. Check. Take care of yourself so you’ll be attractive to your spouse. Check. Pack school lunches. Check. Work hard so you can bring home a big…check. Being responsible, doing nice things for one another, checking off all the right boxes – it’s all part and parcel…

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What To Do If You’re In An Unhappy Marriage But Afraid To Leave

By Mary Ellen Goggin / October 12, 2021
Man rolling a bag and walking our of a building toward the rising sun.

Moments of knowing. We all have them, thanks to that “inner voice” that only begs us to listen. It lets us know when like becomes love. And it mercifully lets us know when happiness can no longer be feigned. Even if you’re in an unhappy marriage but afraid to leave, that voice will continue to…

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8 Tips For Surviving Her Infidelity

By Mary Ellen Goggin / October 1, 2021
Woman enjoying an embrace from her lover.

It’s unbearable, really, the shock and devastation of infidelity in your marriage. In a moment of discovery or disclosure, all the life in your body can drain away to nothingness. And only anger, hurt, confusion, and a cauldron of negativity can fill the vacuum left behind. It could be either one of you, and the…

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How To Maintain Your Self-Esteem In Relationships

By Mary Ellen Goggin / September 18, 2021
Sign stating "You are worthy of love."

And the two shall become one. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Put others’ needs before your own. And so the song of self-surrender is sung…while the task of maintaining self-esteem in relationships is left to the self-help DIYers. The irony of relationships, and especially marriage, is that they are so…

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What You Need To Know About Surviving Financial Infidelity

By Mary Ellen Goggin / August 30, 2021
Brick wall with the words "Until Debt Tear Us Apart" written on it.

Mention the word “infidelity,” and thoughts immediately go to the bedroom and clandestine sexual rendezvous. But there are other forms of betrayal that can be just as difficult to repair. Money, for example, represents far more than a means to an end in a marriage. And surviving financial infidelity can be just as difficult as…

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