You and your mate probably had fun picking your wedding invitations and celebrating the day, but becoming a union is a little more challenging. Marriages die half the time and these aren’t good odds. You may know people–intelligent, attractive folk–who’ve been married multiple times. You may be in this group yourself.The tough times come, though, and sometimes […]
When you feel loved and happy in a relationship, you want what’s best for your mate and you know your mate wants the same for you. Ask yourself if you want your mate to achieve his or her goals. Do these conflict with what you want in life? If so, you need to look […]
Much has been written about bridezillas and the “its-all-about-me” attitude that some women have when it comes to planning a wedding. Let’s be honest, though, most of us like being special, feeling the focus of those around us. For some reason, guys don’t have the wedding fantasy. They’ve grown up with fantasies of throwing the perfect touchdown in […]
Only you can decide when you’re ready to leave a relationship. Lots of people will have opinions and they’ll share these with you without any encouragement. Some will tell you should stay(to give it another chance/for the kids/because it’s best financially) and some will tell you to leave(you’ve given it enough chances/the kids shouldn’t be […]
Hello Dr. Doss, I have a question/problem. I’m not sure anymore what I should be doing or not. I have a 22 year old son that lives at home and the past couple of years he has gotten in trouble and had to be in jail for 1 year, now he has been home for 3 months on […]
Dear Dr. Doss, I hope you are able to see this email because I really am in need of help. I cannot understand my father. I’ve always tried to. Whenever I want to tell him something, I hesitate because he’s so narrow-minded that he doesn’t respect my opinion on things. He does not let me […]
When you have trouble in the relationship, it often shows up in sexual dysfunction or a major dimishment in sex, overall. Few of us like conflict with the ones we love, but this is unavoidable. You share your most intimate moments–and your money–with your mate. Throw in the challenges of parenting or step-parenting and family-of-origin […]
When a marriage ends, people typically have lots of emotions. Sometimes the relief they feel is mixed with sorrow; the anger and loss can be mixed with excitement. Life will definitely be different. Sadly, some individuals turn these feelings into rage, particularly if they didn’t want the marriage to end. Then, we can end up […]
When counseling with individuals about relationship problems, I frequently hear, “We knew each other since we were kids. I’ve known him(or her) forever.” This is almost invariably uttered when clients attempt to tell me why they’re still in a troubled relationship. (I always ask why people have continued these involvements, as their answers can be […]
“I dated a wonderful guy. He proposed and, while I initially accepted, I later gave him back his ring. After 3 years of trying to be patient with his views on his finances, I left the relationship. In the beginning he was living in a basement of a female he ‘knew’, but once we started […]