Part 6 (previous post: Men, Intimacy and Judgment) You want to believe you are “normal.” Often, in the midst of a marital crisis you feel anything but normal. Your world is turned upside down. Your dreams and hopes of a “normal” happy family are dashed. You begin to doubt yourself. Your neediness becomes more desperate. …
Part 4 (Prior post: Men, Intimacy and Isolation) Knowing the coping patterns of your spouse (as outlined in “7 Reasons Men have Difficulty Getting Close and Staying Close”) provides relief. Often you as a spouse are too close to the relationship to see the overarching patterns of coping and behavior. You see the tree staring …
Men and Intimacy – Part 3 (the prior post: Men, Intimacy and Guilt) The spouse who lives and breathes next to an emotionally distant man may experience a strong dose of isolation. If guilt and a sense of undue responsibility are present she may shrink from the world. Her world narrows, her enthusiasm for life …
Part 5 (Prior post: Men, Intimacy and Patterns) Judgment generates trouble in a marital relationship. You may have a strong need to view yourself as right and your spouse as wrong. You judge his behavior and thoughts as being either acceptable or unacceptable. There may be a little grey area. Of course you do the …
Men and Intimacy – Part 2 (the prior post: Men and Intimacy) A woman often feels a tinge guilt for the distance in the marriage. Am I not enough? What’s wrong with me that he won’t come close? Of course, we all bring with us thoughts of inadequacy into your marital bed and marital dinner …
What difficulties do men have in creating and developing intimacy and closeness in marriage? I’m first going to outline seven reasons for men having difficulty in getting and keeping closeness in marriage. These reasons emerge from the general coping patterns I talked about earlier. 1. A man may proclaim: “It’s not me. It’s your fault.” …
Seven Reasons Men Have Difficulty with Closeness in Marriage Read More »
Healing the Marriage: 3 Steps to Closeness What things can you do to help you in healing the marriage? The first step in your journey to closeness is to understand and be aware of your patterns. You have ways of coping with emotional issues and relationships that you took with you from childhood. It was sensible …
Is it really just men who are having trouble with intimacy in marriage? How do women cope with this fear? And how are they different from men? Perhaps you also know this fact: That women have “issues” with closeness and intimacy in marriage just as much as men do. Although women may approach the issue …
What is it that creates men to have difficulty with closeness? And, how does it make you feel? Please understand that this is not about man bashing. I’m a man and I prefer not to be bashed. And women, I assume also don’t like to be bashed. We have enough bashing in our culture. The …
So, what exactly is the underlying relationship meaning of “I love you but am not in love with you”? And how do you respond when your partner tells you that? This is part 3 of a seven part blog series on the underlying relationship meaning of the words, “I love you but am not in …
The Underlying Relationship Meaning of “I Love you but am not ‘in love’ with You” Read More »
