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How To Build Trust In A Relationship
By Darrell Provinse, MA, LPC, NCC, Executive Director I don’t believe that you can live for very long on this planet without realizing that the fairy tale ideal of “Happily Ever After” is just that — a fairy tale. Broken people, in a fallen world, hurt each other, sometimes in big ways, sometimes in small ways. Sometimes, we relive or carry around past wounds from other relationships and import them into the present. Whatever the cause, I think most people, by the time they reach adulthood, have experienced a betrayal of trust, and struggle with how to appropriately allow themselves to be vulnerable in a relationship without feeling that they…
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The Only Way Out Is Through: Understanding and Embracing Relationship Fears
Many of our Agape articles embody a theme of embracing our core relationship fears and learning how to tolerate the undesirable emotions that come with them. In order to move from self-judgment toward self-compassion, it’s important to understand our core fears, their origin, and how they impact our thoughts, feelings and relationships. This means we have to move toward the fear rather than avoid it. Once we acknowledge a relationship fear and move towards it, the fear begins to lose the power that it has over us. Poet Robert Frost has quoted “The only way out is through.” This is so true! A great resource to understanding core fears is…
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Navigating Sexual Hurdles: Medication and Sexual Health
We have discussed, in previous posts, the benefit of visiting with a sex therapist. Sex therapy is a specialized form of therapy that addresses sexual concerns, functioning, relationship, and expression in men and women. A certified sex therapist has had considerable training in the physiological process of human sexuality, as well as, extensive training in psychotropic medications and their effect on sexual functioning. As a rule, we work collaboratively with other health care providers, such as dieticians, pelvic pain specialists, and physicians, enabling us to provide a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to sexual, emotional, and spiritual healing. Part of taking a holistic approach to sexual health, is understanding the relationship between…
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Empathy: The Connection Tool for Your Relationship Toolbox
In previous articles, we have discussed some tools that help strengthen relationships. Some of these topics have included tools for gaining a stronger sense of self, tools for confrontation and using your voice, tools for getting free of relationship gridlock, as well as tools for understanding the neurochemistry of the brain in committed relationships. Sometimes applying the tools to improve our relationships can be challenging. If you struggle with putting your relationship tools into action with your loved ones, try adding empathy to your relationship toolbox! So what is empathy anyway? Webster’s Dictionary defines empathy as “the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions: the…
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