in 2014, the general social survey was conducted by norc at the university of chicago. also in 2014, barely 60 percent of married people said that they were happy with their marriage. this was lower compared to more than the reported 65 percent in 2012. only 57 percent of women said their marriage was happy in 2014, compared to nearly 65 percent reported two years before. for both genders, the numbers were among the lowest levels of marital happiness reported …

if i could give an individual a gift, apart from a meaningful and vibrant faith, i would want to give people a committed, loving marriage. when a marriage is good, a couple can face nearly anything in life. but marriage isn’t perfect. no matter how good a marriage might be, it has problems. every relationship has strengths, weaknesses, and areas in need of growth. the imperfections of a good marriage creates beautiful opportunities for learning and growth. it’s in our …

the truth is, no one can force anyone to like them, and in this case, the kids may be intent on not compromising. some kids hate the idea of having more than two parents, they just want their mom and dad to be happy together. they may keep planting seeds of hatred in the child’s mind while inspiring them to be a problem for you and your spouse. pointing this out to him may hurt his ego or even cause …

the fact that there may be complaints by mates to one another is understandable. it should be easy to see that a successful marriage cannot exist unless the marriage problem of defensiveness is overcome. after the “i dos” have been said, it is valid to ask if we still have unrealistic expectations of our mates. perhaps the hero sees a woman he considers to be the most perfect in the world. attempting to change your mate to become like you …

or this one: a man is convicted of tax evasion, claiming that he had to do it because his wife spent too much. the vast majority of the couples i see are therapy veterans, whose former therapists have thrown up their hands in defeat and referred them to me. men really do want to have a warm and close marriage as much as their wives do, but the way they go about connecting is different. their previous therapists had worked …