You bring something up and hear "I'm fine." So you stop asking. Or you're the one who goes quiet and hopes it blows over, then wonder why the tension never leaves the house. Either way, it starts to feel like you're walking on eggshells and nothing ever actually gets resolved. In this episode, we explain why the partner who avoids conflict often ends up creating more of it, and why that's not the same as being the "anxious" one in the relationship.

Jocelyn shares what she could sense every time Aaron said "I'm fine," and Aaron opens up about what was really going on for him. We also walk through a study on what kids pick up on when parents argue and when they go silent. You'll walk away knowing how to take the space you need without disappearing on your partner, what to say instead of "I'm fine," and how to stop pushing issues down until they blow up later.

👉 Register for our upcoming web class on how to de-escalate conflicts and navigate emotional triggers: onlinecouplesworkshops.com/deescalate

📕 Pre-order our book SAME TEAM and you'll instantly get two guides, the 10-Minute Nightly Check-In and 12 Same Team Phrases to De-Escalate Tension, plus an entry to win an all-expenses-paid couples getaway to Scottsdale, Arizona for every pre-order before January 26: meetthefreemans.com/sameteam

In this episode we sit down with therapist Kelly McDaniel, author of Mother Hunger, to explore how the way we were cared for as children shows up in how we love, react, and connect as adults. You will realize that you don't just marry a partner, you marry their childhood. Aaron shares the birth story that shaped how he relates to touch and the real reason he once tried to break up with Jocelyn, and Jocelyn opens up about where her drive to be seen actually came from. Kelly also speaks directly to the partner on the other side of this, the one who wants to help but isn't sure how, and shares what it looks like to face it together, on the same team.

📕 Pre-order our book SAME TEAM and you'll instantly get two guides, the 10-Minute Nightly Check-In and 12 Same Team Phrases to De-Escalate Tension, plus an entry to win an all-expenses-paid couples getaway to Scottsdale, Arizona for every pre-order before January 26: meetthefreemans.com/sameteam

👉 Find Kelly's book Mother Hunger and her resources at kellymcdanieltherapy.com and on Instagram @KellyMcDanielTherapy.

You love each other, you both work hard, and still there are moments when it feels like you're playing on opposite sides, over the dishes, the bedtime routine, or the tone of one sentence at the end of a long day. Most couples never decide to become opponents. It happens so quietly that by the time you notice, you're bracing against each other instead of facing what's actually in front of you together. This is a reminder that everything is easier when you face it together, on the same team.

In this first episode of the relaunched Same Team podcast, we're back after a summer away with a new name, a new mission, and a first look at the core mindset at the heart of our upcoming book. We share the hardest season of our marriage, a newborn at home and an investment that turned into 800 hours of work in the Arizona heat, and the line Aaron had to draw on every drive to that property before he ever walked back through our front door. We also get honest about what your kids are quietly learning just by watching the two of you, and we give you two phrases straight from the book that will immediately bring you back together when stress or friction try to pull you apart.

📕Pre-order SAME TEAM and you'll instantly get two guides, the 10-Minute Nightly Check-In and 12 Same Team Phrases to De-Escalate Tension, plus an entry to win an all-expenses-paid couples getaway to Scottsdale, Arizona for every pre-order before January 26: meetthefreemans.com/sameteam

👉Our big dream is to get this book into 100,000 homes by launch. If this episode speaks to you, we would love your help sharing it with the people you love.