relationship stages tagged posts

June 18, 2015,  Family, Relationship  No comments

What do we really know about the power of two people who become a couple? Can we describe it with words, numbers or a vision? If for me the power of a strong relationship is expressed through my own experience and work with dozens of families, then for others it might even be expressed in the power of the family integrity expressed through much more than a life time next to one another.

I will share with you a story that moved both me and thousands of people around the world. This is a story about the power of the human spirit separately and as a part of a couple like a quadratic equation that gives the answer to the question that is Step 5 of the development of interpersonal relationships.

An inspiring example of a powerful couple

A story that keeps coming up in my local community is tha...

June 11, 2015,  Family, Relationship  No comments

The challenges for you couples in Stage 4 include expanding your ability to move easily toward and away from each other as the situation requires. You may even want to spend more time together as any lingering threat of being trapped or smothered by the other has now been resolved.

This stage also opens the way for a more adventurous sexual relationship and a willingness to explore wider frontiers with your partner as well as a wish to satisfy requests, even when it may be inconvenient to do so, or when there may be nothing coming back in return.

The real challenge in Stage 4 then is to listen to—and hear—your partner’s perspective without judgment while maintaining your own.

The emotional closeness and sexual intimacy between you may wane at times, but there is now something much g...

May 26, 2015,  Family, Relationship  No comments

Have you ever heard this Indian song? You will start to love your life again my friend and that is all, there’s nothing more to say singing hey lay oh hey singing hey lay oh ha

If life is a theatre play we are playing the fourth act of our relationship – Recoupling. This song would be the most appropriate and most meaningful music background.The World is full of wonders and individuality is one of them. In finding ourselves, our own inner Universe, we have the real opportunity to share it with another human being and to mutually exchange feelings, emotions, and life.Nothing else matters now when two human beings find their way towards one another with the freedom to communicate independently and autonomously...

May 13, 2015,  Family, Relationship  No comments

The principal challenge for couples in Relationship Stage 3

The principal challenge for couples in Relationship Stage 3 is to develop an even stronger personal identity and sense of self than each had before meeting—one that is separate from the relationship, while not so separate that the partners lose sight of each other. Each member of the couple gets involved again in career, hobbies, and/or interests in community activities independently of the partner. This stage is also about spending time with other friends and in other activities, reactivating and consolidating the development of one’s self-esteem, friendships, and personal interests.

Let me share with you one of the most common mistakes couples make while rediscovering their boundaries...

May 6, 2015,  Family, Relationship  No comments

I like the analogy between the relationship and the Chinese Yin Yang symbol. Similarities are obvious at several levels. The male and female beginning is represented by the black and white colours. If we look at the symbol of the circle and infinity, we will see that these two individualities are brilliantly combined in a whole. And translated into the language of our partnership, Yin and Yang are two separate identities bound together in an eternal union. From the point of view of the inner-couple relations, the key accent here is the numbers two and one. The difference in the sequence of the numbers in this case is of fundamental significance.

Rediscovering Your Boundaries: Where, Exactly, Do I Begin and End?

Therefore, this stage is about you moving from an undifferentiated “we” back to...

April 30, 2015,  Family, Relationship  No comments

Do you know the image of the Eternal bachelor, of Casanova, with a charming smile and shining eyes? This is the image of the love addict striving to always feel, at any price, in love and part of an endless honeymoon. This is an archetype for many main characters in movies and novels. Whether you recognize them in the movies, on the street or in the flower shop, you can be sure that this person will give you an unforgettable honeymoon, but it will not be forever.

You Might As Well Face It; You’re Addicted to Love

Some people are so addicted to love that they skip from one relationship to another just to experience the buzz of a new relationship rather than endure the heartache that Stage 2 may create.

So, instead of searching for what could come next, they abandon the relationship and se...

April 8, 2015,  Relationship  No comments

You wake up one morning only to find out that you are lying in your own bed with a complete stranger next to you. And then you ask yourself how to find the differences in this picture – from yesterday and today. Is it some kind of joke? You might be able to guess that I’m describing the “waking up” after the blissful sleep that was the honeymoon.

And even if the first stage lasted for a whole calendar year, waking up is simply an inevitable end to a time of precious sleep. Alas, even the strongest coffee cannot sober you up after you’ve made that jump into the new reality.

Let me share with you – the same happens with all couples all around the world, always and without a miss. Accept this new step as the time when we need to accept the statement:

Differences deserve to be rec...

March 20, 2015,  Relationship  No comments

They were talking while having a glass of wine as they often did. Four women talking about their relationships until one of them shared: “…We’ve been together for six months now. But I can’t breathe anymore! He just wants to be attached to me all the time. Even when I’m working, he wants to cuddle up just like a baby … Why is that so many men do that to me…? I am not his mother! It was nice for a time. I thought he just really loved me… but I need my own space back!”

It is easy for us to guess that this woman, who has just taken off her rose coloured glasses, is now seeing her partner for real out of the context of the honeymoon stage of their relationship...

March 14, 2015,  Relationship  No comments

“I have finally met the one I am meant to be with; my soul mate. I love him! I love him! I love him!” – These are the words of every woman in love who has just found out that destiny “has brought” to her knight in shining armour.
Men feel similarly. And if men tend to be more laconic when it comes to their emotions, then be sure and don’t doubt that they live through this love storm in the same way but without shouting out loud they’ve just found the perfect woman. This is the way things are and Nature has taken good care of all, so that in the beginning of a new relationship we enjoy the so-called “honeymoon stage of being in love”.

Relationship Stage 1: All I can see are your good points

The first stage of a relationship is a time of exclusive attachment...