Is keeping secrets from your partner just as bad as lying?
We’re talking about lying by omission. It may not seem like selective honesty would create problems within a marriage, but keeping secrets from your partner is a form of lying. Doing this can create cracks in the foundation of a relationship and lead to the destruction of a marriage.
Many couples are unaware of the powerful message they are sending by intentionally withholding information. Sometimes couples think that keeping secrets from one another is being “helpful,” or that they are “sparing the other,” but that isn’t the case. When one or both partners in the relationship have secrets that the other don’t know about, trust and communication are compromised. After a marriage has been hit by secrets and lies, the dynamic has been changed for the worst.
Our guest today is Dr. Janet Savia, a clinical psychologist with Lepage Associates. According to Janet, secrets and lies create deep wounds, but can be healed with honesty and guidance. Though it may seem impossible to regain trust within a marriage that is plagued with secrets and lies, it’s not. Change can be real.
To find out more about Janet and the practice, Lepage Associates, visit their website, or call (919) 572-0000 to make an appointment.
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Can we become stronger while managing ADHD within a marriage?
It’s no secret that navigating and maintaining a marriage can be difficult sometimes. But what if your spouse has ADHD or is undiagnosed and living with ADHD? In either case, communication is extra challenging and can seem impossible at times. Oftentimes the partner dealing with ADHD within a marriage is inconsistent, and that can lead to tension. If your partner can be forgetful about simple household tasks, or seems uninterested or distracted more often than not, he or she might be living with ADHD or another attention deficit condition.
Though the issues are small, they often build up to be one large problem in the relationship. Having a partner with ADHD can create a level of frustration that’s hard to understand, but luckily there is a fix. Nowadays, we know a lot more about the characteristics of ADHD. And that makes treatment and maintenance much easier. Today, psychiatrist Dr. Jennie Byrne of Cognitive Psychiatry of Chapel Hill is our guest, and she has answers to some of the burning questions about conditions like ADHD within a marriage.
To find out more about Jennie and her practice, or to seek help for a similar situation, visit her website or call (919) 636-5240 to schedule an appointment.
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Does your marriage partner think that the world revolves around them?
There’s a lot of good information out there to help a troubled marriage survive, but when it comes to a marriage in which one spouse suffers from narcissism, there are very few resources available on how to make it work. Some statistics suggest that many troubled marriages contain one partner who has some degree of narcissism – and the outcome is fairly predictable.
When one spouse thinks that the marriage revolves around him or her, it causes extreme stress on the entire marriage. Usually the other spouse recognizes the problem, repeatedly tries to fix the issues and, unfortunately, is unable to change things.
Often, a marriage with this kind of stress will easily collapse but John O’Donoghue believes there are solutions. In many cases, he suggests the most important factor for change is the ability to understand how the narcissistic partner thinks and the willingness to accept it.
John O’Donoghue is a marriage and family therapist with John O’Donoghue Therapy Services in Raleigh, NC. John specializes in providing psychotherapy to individuals, couples and families. He helps people understand what life is like with a narcissistic partner and works to try to make marriages successful when one spouse is narcissistic.
To learn more about John and his practice, visit his website or call 919-341-2477 to make an appointment.
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