David writes: My wife has several close girlfriends and she confides in them about everything. I often feel betrayed that she shares intimate details about our relationship with them and wish she would keep some things sacred to our marriage. Any relationship advice on how I can ask her to do this without sounding too controlling?
Suzanne writes, Dear Rachel, My boyfriend and I have been together for 3 years and live together most of the time. However the time that he doesn't stay at my house, he is very distant and closed off emotionally. It's become hard for me to cope with the constant "push me away" then "pull me close" behavior. Any relationship advice on what I can say to him?
Olga writes: I'm dating a man who had to move cross-country due to a job promotion. I have an established business and life in New York and wasn't ready to move so we decided to try long distance. Initially everything was going great but lately he's started to be less available and now I haven't spoken to him in 3 days. Can you give me relationship advice--Should I move on or try to salvage what we have?
I just started dating a man about 6 months ago and everything is going great. However; I just found out some information about his financial situation that's made me uneasy. He recently asked to borrow money from me and I learned he's in quite a bit of debt. I am really happy in all other parts of my relationship but this is bothering me. Can you give me Relationship advice on this issue.
My wife and I have been married for almost 5 years and recently she started going to yoga, meditating, and practicing Buddhism. I support her all the way, but don't practice or believe in these rituals myself. She constantly tells me I need to go to class with her and begin practicing so I can live a more purposeful life. I'm a very happy man and don't feel like I it. I also don't appreciate being forced to meditate or participate in any of these practices. Can you share some relationship advice on how I can address this problem?
Dear Rachel: My wife is constantly nitpicking at me and wanting me to do household chores and never seems satisfied. She also complains about the way I dress, talk and eat my food and it’s starting to wear on me. She sometimes goes into a tirade and cannot stop putting me down saying negative things to and about me to her friends and family. I’m wondering if she even likes me anymore. Do you have any suggestions and relationship advice on how I can control this and stop her from nitpicking?
Dear Rachel - I am the Vice President of a large company and work long hours as well as travel around the world frequently for conferences. I'm happily married, but don't see my husband often due to my hectic schedule. In the past few months, I've grown close to a co-worker who travels with me. I would never act on anything, but have started to develop feelings for him and am afraid if we get closer I might make a mistake. I can't not work with this person unless I left my job completely. Do you have any relationship advice on managing my feelings or something that will help me feel closer to my husband while on the road?
This week our question comes from Diane. She writes: My husband and I used to be very close but we just had our first child a year ago and we've drifted apart. We barely speak. We haven't been intimate in months. I am starting to wonder if he's cheating on me, but also feel like I'm just being insecure. I really want to get back the intimacy we used to have before our daughter was born. Do you have any advice?
Dear Rachel, my boyfriend is an extremely jealous person and this causes a lot of unnecessary arguments. Do you have any suggestions for us on how I can deal with this? Jealousy is such a common problem with couples married and dating, young and old couples. It’s important to handle this early on so that it doesn’t poison a relationship long term and potentially destroy it.
Isn’t it interesting how even when you and your partner speak the same language, you don’t always understand what he/she is saying? The most common communication mistake couples often make involves negativity and escalation. This occurs when partners respond to one another negatively, with each response getting worse and worse until finally one person oversteps the boundaries and makes a hurtful statement.
