Posts Tagged ‘Divorce’
Myths about Arguments
When it comes to marriage and relationship, there are a lot of myths out there. Here are five of the most common. Myth 1: Good couples don’t argue. The presence or absence of arguments is not a good indicator of the health of a marriage. Some couples who don’t argue are living detached, parallel lives.…
Read MoreAre we outliving marriage?
We’ve heard it said many times – you probably have as well – it goes like this. “People live so much longer these days, it’s unreasonable to expect a marriage to last all their life.” But do the numbers support the claim? It’s certainly true that life expectancy has increased in recent generations in many…
Read MoreNewly Married and Already at Risk
Why do some marriages unravel within a decade? We have a personal stake in the question – three of our own children are newly married – but there’s a bigger reason too: research suggests that what eventually breaks a marriage often takes root in the first five years. Long before a marriage formally ends,…
Read MoreThree Practices for a Lasting Marriage
The science confirms what the Church has taught all along We live in an age of marital pessimism. Divorce has touched almost every family, and many couples walk down the aisle quietly wondering whether they’ll beat the odds. The statistics are sobering – somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of marriages in Western countries will end in divorce.…
Read MoreMaking the Connection…with Arguments
Neither of us likes it when we disagree, yet we’ve had more than a few in our 28 years of marriage – some of them leading to horrible arguments. When disagreements descend into arguments, they usually become hurtful and unproductive, leaving us feeling bitter and exhausted. But are arguments all bad, or always harmful?…
Read MoreThe Cohabitation Myth
Many dating couples opt to live together before deciding to marry, because they believe that it is a responsible and prudent thing to do. They reason that cohabitating together will be like a trial marriage. They will learn all about each other’s habits and discover whether they are truly compatible. And when they do finally…
Read MoreDeclining Divorces: A Cause for Celebration?
Exploring the trends and what they mean for our relationships and families Recently published data on marriage and divorce in Australia have caught media attention: according to the Australian Institute of Family Studies, the crude divorce rate has dropped to 2.3 per 1,000 residents (2023). Like trends in USA and other developed nations, it’s…
Read MoreSuccess Breeds Success
You Don’t Need to Fail in Order to Succeed A lot of people think that having a few failed relationships is helpful in preparing them for marriage. Some even go as so far as seeing the first marriage itself as a ‘training ground’ for the grand love that is expected to follow. They…
Read MoreUnderstanding Compound Wounds
Who would have thought espresso cups could cause such drama? Byron had discarded the unused ‘free’ cups a year earlier, without Francine even noticing their absence. After a frantic search when a guest requested an espresso, she discovered their fate. Despite this information, she experienced a kind of suspende d reality – she…
Read MoreWar and Peace on the Home Front
Every nation remembers the sacrifice of their war veterans with a Memorial Day. Thinking about your marriage: is it more of a battlefield than the safe harbour it is intended to be? Through our work with couples, we often encounter those in embattled relationships. They’ve become trapped in a fractious pattern where almost every interaction…
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