Read excerpts from Psychology Today below, and click to see full articles!
Four Hidden Reasons for Family Drama During Wedding Planning
Complicating matters, during arguments, each partner may feel loyal both to their future spouse and their family. When a future spouse and a parent disagree about the religious nature of the ceremony, for example, the partner may feel compelled to both defend their parents and defend their partner. In that process, somebody’s feelings can get hurt. Weddings force couples to draw lines in the sand and declare their loyalty to one another while managing delicate family ties.
Why We Grieve During Life’s Happiest Moments
While life’s losses provoke a grief response, many will find themselves also counterintuitively experiencing a sense of loss during moments of joy and growth. When people experience growth and transition, moments that garner pride, excitement, and a sense of accomplishment, a sense of loss can creep in. I call these moments the “grief of growth.”
4 Types of Grief Nobody Told You About
The word grief has come to be understood solely as a reaction to a death. But that narrow understanding fails to encompass the range of human experiences that create and trigger grief. Read more to learn about the four types of grief that we experience which have nothing to do with death.
If My Parents Are Divorced, Is My Marriage Doomed to Fail?
The statistics can feel disheartening and leave children of divorce feeling helpless. But before you throw up your hands, let’s examine this phenomenon more closely to understand the why behind the statistics. It is not enough to say that divorce begets divorce; statistics alone fail to address the mechanisms of transition and ultimately tell couples how they can insulate themselves against this risk.
3 Types of Family Secrets and How They Drive Families Apart
Relationships with family members come not only from biological bonds but also from the bonds of maintained connection. When secrets enter a family, they can either enhance or undermine that connection. Benign family secrets that can increase closeness include things like children sharing a “secret” language from their parents or family units sharing inside jokes and traditions. The secrets are rooted in joy and intimate sharing of knowledge.
Why Your New Year's Resolution Is Failing
Contrary to what weight loss and productivity software commercials would have you believe, deep-rooted, sustainable change will not take place simply because you buy a product or make a resolution. No, full-fledged change involves a panoply of small shifts that eventually lead to a different version of yourself. Here are five ingredients of sustainable change.
5 Ways to Improve Exhausting Family Visits
For some, going home to visit family means signing up for a string of difficult family dinners, events, and conversations encounters that replay old family dynamics and arguments. Rather than joy, comfort, and connectedness, feelings of anxiety, frustration, and helplessness prevail as you step back into your childhood home. But preparation, the proper mindset, and support systems can ease and even entirely change the tenor of your family experience.