It may be a cliché, but the workplace is one of the most common places for affairs to start. How do work affairs start? When people spend lots of time together, they have the chance to really get to know each other. Work affairs often start off slowly. Working together in stressful situations can mean…
Why communication isn’t always the most important thing in a relationship There is a popular belief that ‘communication’ is the most important thing in a relationship. When couples come to counseling they often say their problem is with ‘communication’. And the thing they want to fix about their relationship is their ‘communication’. And if only…
Most people know what physical abuse is, but when it comes to emotional abuse, people tend to think there’s much more of a ‘grey area’. They might know it has something to do with treating your partner badly – name calling or making them feel small – but not be clear on what’s actually classed…
Many couples will experience different levels of sex drive at some point in their relationship. For some couples differences in sex drive may have been present from the start of the relationship. This is normal and lots of people find ways of compromising that feel fine to both partners. For some people, their sex drive…
There’s no formula for knowing when you should leave a relationship – it can be really stressful and confusing trying to make a decision. You may think things haven’t been right for a while but still feel undecided about whether you could work through your issues. While you might clearly remember how good things used…
Relationship challenges can come from all kinds of places. You may have to deal with the challenge of feeling your partner has let you down in some way. Or the challenge of resolving a big difference of opinion. Or more practical challenges – like making sure you spend enough time together or learning to budget…
“They fuck you up, your mum and dad / They may not mean to, but they do / They fill you with the faults they had / And add some extra, just for you.” So begins Philip Larkin’s famous poem, This be the Verse. Larkin’s representation of familial inheritance here is clearly overly pessimistic and…
Valentine’s Day and all the expectations that come with it can make you feel like you should be having all kinds of passionate and adventurous sex with your partner. But the reality is it can be pretty difficult to keep things fizzing, especially if you both have busy lives. Instead of worrying about reaching some…
How are you doing with your New Year resolutions? Are they working out well for you, or have the January blues been sapping your energy levels? Maybe one of your resolutions was to sort out those niggling problems in your relationships or to do more to bring you and your partner closer. I’ve been thinking about these kinds…
Our sex lives can be wonderfully reassuring when they go well, but we all have times when we don’t feel so close to our partner and sex isn’t working the way we’d like it to. That’s why Relate has published The Relate Guide to Sex and Intimacy with Vermillion. The book aims aims to help…
Couple Counseling is open to everyone aged over 16. Whether you are married, living together, in a same-sex relationship, separated, divorced or single, my confidential service can help you to deal with your relationship difficulties. Google+
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