First I want to tell you about the Q&A show I did with Bruce L. Bair on Nov. 18, 2009.  He is a superb wellness coach with a strong medical background.  Since I am a relationship expert Bruce asked great questions about the impact of menopause on relationships.  It turned out that we both shared an interest in how to help women successfully deal with the change of life.  I talked about how to manage menopause from the emotional perspective with concrete suggestions for couples on how to successfully get through this turbulent time. You can listen to the MP3 here: kristina-mp3

Next I will share some thoughts on rekindling relationships.  I have been coaching a  couple who had been struggling with communication issues most of their marriage.  Each was feeling misunderstood by the other and although they wished to stay together they had little hope that things could change between them.

They were masters at blaming each other for being the problem maker.  As they learned to take responsibility for their own feelings, behavior, and actions  they were able to start working on the communication struggles between them.  The missing piece for them was that they had little understanding as to how to take each others feelings and thinking into consideration. Their individual hurt and frustration would be expressed by one as anger and the other by tears or removing self from the charged confrontation.

It is understandable that they both felt very much alone.  They are learning to think as to how what they say or do individually impacts on their couple  relationship.  They are growing together and thinking WE in addition to I.  By doing that they are becoming  a working team where each cares about growing and protecting  the welfare of the relationship.