Posted on January 21, 2008 by Rod E. Smith, MSMFT
1. Be aware of the unique, honored position I have in your life, and regard it with the respect it deserves.
2. Hear you, even if you are telling me things I’d rather you not say.
3. Be willing to disagree with you, when, in my estimation, you are wrong, off target, or unfair in your actions [...]
Filed under: Authentic love, Boundaries, Coaching, Communication, Differentiation, Difficult Relationships, Family, Friendship, Growing up, Happiness, High maintenance relationships, Interpersonal intimacy, Listening, Personal growth, Reactivity, Recovery, Relationships, Responsive people, Teenagers, Victims, Voice, Womanhood, Young Love | Tagged: Family, Friendship, Love, men and women, power of friendships | 2 Comments »
Posted on December 12, 2007 by Rod E. Smith, MSMFT
Deliver your own news – good or bad. Don’t use others as carrier pigeons.
Try not to keep people waiting. While it is sometimes unavoidable, effort on your part to be punctual will speak volumes about you.
Find a way to remember people’s names. You’ll be surprised how much it will do for you.
Spend less than you [...]
Filed under: Authentic love, Growing up, Happiness, High maintenance relationships, Love, Relationships, Responsive people | Tagged: getting better, hope, Love, Relationships, Trust, truth, wellness | 4 Comments »
Posted on November 3, 2007 by Rod E. Smith, MSMFT
Conditions under which counseling or therapy will be of most value….
1. Neither client nor therapist exaggerates therapist’s abilities or the client’s condition.
2. Therapist sees role as helping client steer toward a more productive, healthy future.
3. Client sees the “big picture” over the “long haul” rather immediate relief in the “here and now.” (Patience, patience, patience).
4. [...]
Filed under: Anger, Attraction, Authentic love, Blended families, Books, Boundaries, Differentiation, Difficult Relationships, Divorce, Domination, Education, Family, Forgiveness, Friendship, High maintenance relationships, Love, Manipulation, Marriage, Re-marriage, Recovery, Relationships, Responsive people, Second marriages, Sexual compatibility, Step parenting, Teenagers, Therapeutic Process, Toxic Relationships, Victims, Voice, Young Love | Tagged: affair, Counseling, Family, father, help, lover, Money, mother, parents, sex, therapy, time, waste | 7 Comments »
Posted on October 2, 2007 by Rod E. Smith, MSMFT
“Three years ago our pre-marriage counselor used a few of your columns to get us talking. I was annoyed because they made our engagement seem so business-like and so un-romantic. It seemed very cold to discuss money when you feel so in love. Now I can see how important it was to talk about money [...]
Filed under: Attraction, Authentic love, Boundaries, Coaching, Communication, Community, Compatibility, Control issues, Differentiation, High maintenance relationships, Home, Listening, Living together, Love, Marriage, Marriage and in-laws, Money, Personal growth, Responsive people, Spousal abuse, Teenagers, Toxic Relationships, Violence, Voice, Weddings | Tagged: better life, Counseling, counselling, future, husband, Marriage, pre-marriage, wife | 1 Comment »
Posted on May 18, 2007 by Rod E. Smith, MSMFT
1. Set your career, academic, and health goals, and then work hard to achieve them.
2. Develop a network of diverse and supportive friends.
3. Challenge your wife to be a mutual, respectful, and equal partner in every aspect of your relationship.
4. Resist any forms of intimacy you or your wife find uncomfortable.
5. Believe in your wife’s [...]
Filed under: Authentic love, Communication, Community, Compatibility, Differentiation, Difficult Relationships, Forgiveness, High maintenance relationships, Love, Marriage, Parenting/Children, Personal growth, Relationships, Responsive people, Sexual compatibility, Spousal abuse, Toxic Relationships, Victims, Voice | 1 Comment »
Posted on March 31, 2006 by Rod E. Smith, MSMFT
Are you a responsive person (as opposed to a reactive person)?
1. Responsive people can function within life’s many tensions without becoming overwhelmed.
2. They can see possibilities within problems.
3. They are extraordinarily flexible and they can be very playful.
4. They shape their emotional environment, bringing calm and creativity to their context, rather than assuming the [...]
Filed under: Anxiety, Personal growth, Responsive people, Trust, Voice | 2 Comments »
