Yes, honesty is a powerful way to build trust. And when you can do it without anger, and really own your emotions, it’s a powerful transformative experience. And when you can do it without anger, and really own your emotions, it’s a powerful transformative experience. But when it’s wrapped up with anger and fighting, it can be a relationship killer.

I want to talk about another AI. Not Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intimacy. This is something that’s been active ever since big social media giants like Facebook have been operating . . . It makes us feel connected, but is missing a key ingredient that truly builds intimacy: vulnerability.

For that matter, definition time can re-emerge over and over within the same relationship. Therefore, it’s wise to not go looking for hard and fast “rules.” All that said, there are some common signs and some general advice worth keeping in mind.

This leaves some couples wondering how to reconnect and recover. Meanwhile, some partners are left wondering if they can still reconnect and recover. How can a couple truly know if their relationship is worth saving?

There may be ways that trust issues are affecting your relationship without your conscious awareness. You may be pushing your partner away subtly or feeling like you’re too needy. Either way, trust may be an issue that needs to be examined before it starts you off in a negative pattern of relating.

If you want to change the way your relationship is going, own your feelings (that aren't anger) and the way you're behaving badly. This can be your ticket out of the relational ground-hog day.

And by this time, when the “honeymoon” period is over, you may be leaving notes. You may be irritably texting them reminders. You may have just decided to do it yourself. You may hav given up.

But trust me. You may also be getting in your way when it comes to communicating what you need.

Nobody likes compromise in theory. You may tell yourself that you’re open-minded and giving but, life appears best when you get your way. This is not automatically a selfish outlook. It is normal to prefer setting the agenda.

Apologies are the living band-aid. They help us in an imperfect world where two people who were raised in different families who inevitably will injure each other can make things right again.

#2. . .Deception of Any Kind

I like to re-frame this as betrayal. There are countless areas where transparency is required. Finances, co-parenting, dealing with in-laws, and sex. If you are not actively lying, but are omitting information because you don’t want your spouse to find out, that’s called a “lie of omission.”

What Causes Someone to Lose Interest in Sex?

We’ve already touched on a handful of possible answers. Other more specific reasons could be:

• Underlying emotional problems that make intimacy less appealing

• Getting intimacy elsewhere, e.g. physical or emotional affairs, pornography, sexting, etc.

• Body image issues

• Sexual dysfunction

• Questions about one’s sexuality

This can cause you to silently evaluate them and behave in a certain way toward them. For example:

• Comparing them to others—especially past partners or anyone you may find attractive.

• Trying to change them to fit into your expectations and preferences.

• Trying to control them in small, subtle ways.

• Criticizing them for simply being them.

• Losing patience.

• Listening, but only to confirm what you already think.

• Over-analyzing and pick apart what they do and say.

• Engaging with less empathy, acceptance, and open-mindedness.

Somehow, our society is sex-crazed and sex-repressed at the same time. Sex sells. Yet, it’s a completely different story with talking about your own sexual desires.

There is that adage that goes something like this: “Resentment is like drinking a bowl of poison and waiting for the other guy to die.”

Resentment in relationships can drive all kinds of distress behaviors. I

Maybe it’s a sense of being overwhelmed. It could be a classic case of anxiety. Anger, grief, or shame can also transport us out of the moment and out of connection with our spouse or partner. Here are some ways you can get grounded and really respond in to your partner.

In those darkest of moments, there may be a tendency to feel hopeless. This isn’t automatically a bad thing. However, hopelessness must never, ever be used as a weapon.

Here are the conflicts that marriage counseling can help with and why it helps. Includes links to how-to articles that go into more depth about how couples can help in their own fights.

Whatever the topic, if you’re avoiding, your emotions are probably hijacking your relationship. Avoidance is a way of fighting. It attempts to reduce distress by “leaving it alone.”

Considering apologizing to your spouse or partner for something? Here are 3 pitfalls and ways you can improve your apologies.