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  • Rejection…Protection…Perception!

    Rejection…Protection…Perception!
    2026/07/08
    You are working on your marriage. You reach out toward your spouse. . . only to feel rejected. After that stops you in your tracks. You start doubting yourself, your efforts, your plan. . . . STOP. What if your spouse was not really intending to reject you? What if something else was going on? What if I told you that almost always (I would say "always," but then someone would work hard to prove me wrong), it is not really an attempt to reject. It is really an attempt to protect. Not "protect you." But "protect themselves." What? You say, "They don't need to protect themselves!" But that doesn't mean they don't feel the need to protect themselves. Perceptions. They really get us in trouble. You feel it as rejection. It was meant for protection. The problem is, your perception could throw you off, cause you to pull up, abandon your plan, and wallow in pain. Or you could understand it from your spouse's perception. . . . Listen to the podcast below. RELATED RESOURCES Why Connection Matters Connection and Perception Dealing With Pushback System to Save Your Marriage
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    20 分
  • Are You Fighting for Connection?

    Are You Fighting for Connection?
    2026/07/01
    “Should I even keep fighting for my marriage?”, asks “G.” Oof, that word… “fighting.” I hear it often. But so many times, when someone says they are “fighting for” their marriage, they end up “fighting against” their spouse. The spouse who doesn’t see how to move forward. Which is rarely helpful for the process. But I watch person after person “suit up” to do battle, not even sure on what they are fighting. So, let me clarify that with the question from “E.” She asked why I always talk about connection… not romance, playing “hard to get,” doing “No Contact,” or reverse psychology. Those two fit together… the “fighting” part and the “connecting” part. You are fighting for connection! For some very specific (and deeply rooted) reasons. I discuss both in this episode of the Save The Marriage Podcast. RELATED RESOURCES: Connection and Marriage Why are We Fighting No Contact is Crap No Manipulation Save The Marriage System
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    26 分
  • Four Fails to Saving Your Marriage

    Four Fails to Saving Your Marriage
    2026/06/24
    First, let me be clear: if you are actively saving your marriage, working toward a better relationship... stop reading and go do something else! This won't apply to you! But if you want to save your marriage... but for some reason, you just can't get moving... hang with me! YOU are the one that will benefit from this episode. That "some reason" is what I want to take a look at. In this episode of the Save The Marriage Podcast, I discuss the 4 "F" words that are keeping you from taking action... keeping you from saving your marriage. I discuss 4 reasons why you are stuck and aren't saving your marriage. Just to be clear, these are the reasons you are stuck... and has nothing to do with what your spouse is doing. Let's be clear about what typically holds people back. And yes, there may be some other reasons. I want to cover the 4 reasons I see repeatedly. And yes, they can keep you from taking any action. Unless, of course, you find an alternative. I'll give you that alternative, too. RELATED RESOURCES: Fear and Marriage Your Team for Support Why Does It Matter? Beware of Unhelpful Approaches Save The Marriage System
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    20 分
  • What Stage is the Crisis?

    What Stage is the Crisis?
    2026/06/17
    In my Save The Marriage System Quick-Start Guide, I show the 8 distinct stages of a marriage crisis. But those are the stages of the crisis. There are also stages to your awareness of the crisis. This is the point where you are aware of the crisis, the level of the crisis, and the potential threat of the crisis. And just to let you know: you are NOT at stage 1. That would be Asleep. This is the point when you are not even aware that things are in trouble. You are blissfully unaware of — or choosing to not notice — the looming marriage crisis that is already underway. But then you wake up to find yourself in the midst of a troubled relationship, a hurting marriage! Your spouse may be further along the process, and your marriage may be further along the progression of the crisis. That is independent of your own awareness of the crisis. In this episode of the marriage crisis, I discuss the 4 stages of crisis awareness, and the 1 thing you need to do — along with some thoughts on how to/how NOT to do that very thing. Listen in below. RELATED RESOURCES FACT of the Crisis Can The Marriage Be Saved? Why It Matters Happy or Hurting? Save The Marriage System
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    21 分
  • Marriage In The Kettle

    Marriage In The Kettle
    2026/06/10
    You've heard the story about the frog and the kettle. It's the slowly heating water that sneaks up on the frog before it can react. Turns out, frogs are smarter than that. They jump when things get dangerous. But the metaphor survives because it describes something we do in marriage. Except our kettle doesn't heat up. It cools down. Most couples hit a pause button at some point — kids, career, a season of life that demands everything. The intention is good: we've got this, we'll get back to us later. The problem is, there's no suspended animation in a relationship. When you step back from connection, the marriage doesn't hold still. It starts cooling. Slowly. Below the surface. Often for years before you notice. In this episode, I walk you through how it happens, why we miss it, and what it takes to reverse it. RELATED RESOURCE: Training Article: Why Marriages Don't Pause Save The Marriage System
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    14 分
  • Having Hope vs. Building Hope

    Having Hope vs. Building Hope
    2026/06/03
    Most people wait for hope to show up. They treat it like weather — something that either arrives or doesn't, something outside their control. And when it doesn't show up, they take that as a sign. Maybe it's over. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. Maybe there's just nothing left to work with. But what if hope isn't something you wait for? What if it's something you build? Waiting for hope is passive. Building hope is a choice. In this episode, I go back to work from researcher Charles Snyder, who mapped out what hope actually is — not as a feeling, but as a structure. There are ingredients. A recipe. And like any recipe, you can't skip a piece and expect the result to work. Those ingredients are: a clear goal, a willingness to pursue it, and a plan for how to get there. Three things. And most people who feel hopeless are missing at least one of them. Sometimes all three. Here's what's interesting about that. The ingredient people most often think they're missing is willingness. They assume they're the problem. That they don't care enough, or aren't strong enough, or have run out of something. But willingness isn't usually the real problem. The real problem is usually the third ingredient: the plan, the process, the path. Because here's what I've found over 25 years: when someone can actually see the path forward, willingness tends to follow. Not the other way around. In this episode, I also walk through the three things that are actually within your control (what I call the 3 A's) and why most people exhaust themselves working on the wrong things entirely. If you've been feeling stuck, like the motivation just isn't there, or like hope has quietly left the building, then this episode is worth your time. It won't tell you what to want. It won't hand you willingness you'd have to manufacture on your own. But it will show you that building hope is something you can actually do. Right now. With what you already have. RELATED RESOURCES Save The Marriage System -- Your Plan The Connection Compass The Hope System
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    22 分
  • When You Failed Therapy (Or Therapy Failed YOU)

    When You Failed Therapy (Or Therapy Failed YOU)
    2026/05/27
    She did everything right. When her marriage hit a crisis, she and her husband went to therapy. They showed up every week. They stayed with it for months. They did what you're supposed to do. And then the therapist told them she didn't think she could help them. Nothing was working. She didn't see a path forward. They walked out feeling like failures. Like they had somehow flunked marriage therapy. Like the problem was them. Here's what I want you to know: she was wrong about that. And if you've sat in that same chair (or if you've tried the books, the advice, the frameworks, and still feel like nothing is reaching the actual problem) you may be wrong about it too. There's a difference between failing therapy and therapy failing you. And that can change what you do next! This week's episode is about that difference. Why therapy so often doesn't work in a marriage crisis. What's actually being missed. And why the advice that sounds right... and may even be right, can still be completely wrong for the moment you're in. The hiking guide is useless when you need a tourniquet. Listen below. RELATED RESOURCES Save The Marriage System (designed for a marriage crisis) What The Therapist Won't Tell You Factors in Therapy Success or Failure
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    16 分
  • When Your Spouse Says Divorce: What To Do In The Next 72 Hours

    When Your Spouse Says Divorce: What To Do In The Next 72 Hours
    2026/05/20
    If your spouse has said the word divorce — or you're afraid they're about to — the next 72 hours matter more than you might think. Not because you can fix everything that quickly. But because what you do in this window will either create a path forward or make recovery significantly harder. In this episode I talk about what's actually happening in this moment — in your brain, in your body, and in the dynamic between you and your spouse — and why the response that feels most necessary right now is probably the one most likely to backfire. After more than three decades helping people through relationship crisis, including 25 years specifically focused on saving marriages, I've seen two very different paths people take when their spouse says divorce. One creates space for something different to happen. The other widens the gap at exactly the wrong moment. Both come from love. Only one works. In this episode: Why hearing "divorce" triggers a crisis response in your brain — and why that response works against you The difference between your spouse making a decision and telling you where they are emotionally What the pursue-pressure pattern looks like — and the cost of following it Why your first instinct, even when it comes from love, tends to push your spouse further away The one shift that changes everything about how you respond Grab the free guide — what to do and what NOT to do in the next 24-72 hours
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    15 分