Blog | Relationship Resources for Couples & Individuals

EXPLORE EPISODES

How to Write Wedding Vows That Set Your Marriage Up For Success

Vows that set a marriage up for success trade promises to do it all for intentions to do our best—especially in the hard times. Anyone who’s been married can tell you that, for all of the joy and love, there’s just as many fights and betrayals. The question is: how will we repair and grow stronger each time? Vows are an opportunity to address this very question. And, when done well, vows can be a compass to return to every time we lose our way. Read more on how to trade promises for intentions and a beautiful writing exercise for wedding vow drafts or as an ongoing activity do to throughout your marriage.

Letters From Esther #32: Making and Breaking Wedding Traditions

My monthly newsletter and workshop is meant to inspire you to reflect, act, and develop greater confidence and relational intelligence in all of your relationships. This month's theme is: Making and Breaking Wedding Traditions.

The Myth of Unconditional Love in Romantic Relationships

“Relational Ambivalence” is the experience of contradictory thoughts and feelings—of love and hate, attraction and disgust, excitement and fear, contempt and envy—toward someone with whom we are in a relationship. It exists in every relational configuration, but we put a lot of pressure on romantic love, in particular, to rise above it. Read more on how ambivalence shows up in your romantic relationships and the common responses to it.

Letters from Esther #32: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Our Comfort with Intimacy Has A Lot to do with These 7 Verbs

Love is an active verb. It’s imbued with intention and meaning and contains an implicit call to action. In the language of intimacy, basic fluency comes down to just seven verbs. The experiences that revolve around these shape our beliefs about ourselves and our expectations of others. Read more on the seven verbs of intimacy and how they help us to understand not just how we learned to love and be loved—but how we want to now.

Letters from Esther #31: Inviting Vulnerability

My monthly newsletter and workshop are meant to inspire you to reflect, act, and develop greater confidence and relational intelligence in all of your relationships. This month's theme is: Inviting Vulnerability.

In Long-Term Relationships, When Do You Find Yourself Most Drawn to Your Partner?

Reconciling the domestic and the erotic is a delicate balancing act in long-term relationships. It requires knowing your partner while recognizing their persistent mystery. Read more on the one simple question that reminds us to appreciate our partner’s otherness and what the four most common responses tell us.

Letters From Esther #30: Appreciating Otherness in Relationships

Letters from Esther #1 - Connection

Letters from Esther is my monthly newsletter to stay in touch and inspire reflection and action in areas that are important for our relational intelligence. This month's theme is Connection.

Letters from Esther #2 - Security and Freedom

Letters from Esther is my monthly newsletter to stay in touch and inspire reflection and action in areas that are important for our relational intelligence. This month's theme is Security and Freedom.

Letters from Esther #3 - Helping is Making Me Feel Helpless

Letters from Esther #4 - Relationship Dynamics in the Workplace

My monthly newsletter to stay in touch and inspire reflection and action in areas that are important for your relational intelligence. In celebration of the release of my new podcast, How’s Work, this month's theme is: Relationship Dynamics in the Workplace

Letters from Esther #5 - Trauma, Poetry, and Elephants in South Africa

Letters from Esther is my monthly newsletter to stay in touch and inspire reflection and action in areas that are important for your relational intelligence. This month's theme is: Trauma, Poetry, and Elephants in South Africa.

Letters from Esther #6 - Promises and Resolutions

Letters from Esther is my monthly newsletter to stay in touch and inspire reflection and action in areas that are important for our relational intelligence. In celebration of the new year, this month's theme is: Promises and Resolutions.

Letters from Esther #7: The Art of Conversation

Letters From Esther #8: The Myth of Self-Love

How to Write Wedding Vows That Set Your Marriage Up For Success

The Myth of Unconditional Love in Romantic Relationships

Our Comfort with Intimacy Has A Lot to do with These 7 Verbs

In Long-Term Relationships, When Do You Find Yourself Most Drawn to Your Partner?

The Other 3 Little Words: I Love You, But—What Are We?

Saying “I love you” has long been the ultimate marker of seriousness in the early months of romantic relationships. In the last few decades, however, the rise of the “situationship” has elongated the dating phase, elevating a different set of “three little words” to the pantheon of important relational dialogue. Read more on why discussing “What are we?” is an important part of creating a shared reality with healthy boundaries and expectations in a relationship.

Six Essential Practices to Improve Listening Skills in Relationships

The way we listen shapes a conversation as much as the way we speak or respond. Nothing makes us feel more deeply connected than when we are engaged in a healthy balance of thoughtful speaking and hardcore listening. Read more on my six essential practices to improve listening in your relationships and learn to strike the delicate balance of receiving and reciprocating.

Relationship Stress at a High? Try Spending Time With Friends

Our expectations of our partners have never been so high. When our primary relationship is experiencing high stress one of the best things we can do for ourselves and our partners is to take some of the pressure off. Read more on the importance of spending time with friends and how it serves as a reminder that we don’t live or love in a vacuum.

When Transitioning Between Stages of a Relationship, Practice Adaptability

Adaptability in couples is about responding to life’s changing circumstances with good communication and a lot of flexibility. Read more about why adaptability is an important element in helping couples navigate the different stages of a relationship.

Articles

How to Write Wedding Vows That Set Your Marriage Up For Success

How to Write Wedding Vows That Set Your Marriage Up For Success

Letters From Esther #32: Making and Breaking Wedding Traditions

The Myth of Unconditional Love in Romantic Relationships

Letters from Esther #32: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

Our Comfort with Intimacy Has A Lot to do with These 7 Verbs

Letters from Esther #31: Inviting Vulnerability

In Long-Term Relationships, When Do You Find Yourself Most Drawn to Your Partner?

Letters From Esther #30: Appreciating Otherness in Relationships

Letters from Esther #1 - Connection

Letters from Esther #2 - Security and Freedom

Letters from Esther #3 - Helping is Making Me Feel Helpless

Letters from Esther #4 - Relationship Dynamics in the Workplace

Letters from Esther #5 - Trauma, Poetry, and Elephants in South Africa

Letters from Esther #6 - Promises and Resolutions

Letters from Esther #7: The Art of Conversation

Letters From Esther #8: The Myth of Self-Love

How to Write Wedding Vows That Set Your Marriage Up For Success

The Myth of Unconditional Love in Romantic Relationships

Our Comfort with Intimacy Has A Lot to do with These 7 Verbs

In Long-Term Relationships, When Do You Find Yourself Most Drawn to Your Partner?

The Other 3 Little Words: I Love You, But—What Are We?

Six Essential Practices to Improve Listening Skills in Relationships

Relationship Stress at a High? Try Spending Time With Friends

When Transitioning Between Stages of a Relationship, Practice Adaptability

You can also browse articles, Letters from Esther, and Podcast Episodes in our “Focus On” sections, where we group resources based on important relational topics.