The beliefs you have about yourself are the same beliefs you bring to relationships and sex. If you don’t think you are attractive or worthy, how can you accept love and kindness in a relationship? How can you enjoy a meaningful and joyful sex life?

Most people struggle with getting enough happiness chemicals. The deficiency can make you feel sad, depressed, hopeless, and anxious. Thankfully there are natural ways of boosting happy chemicals

Reaching out in time of need or asking for help doesn’t come easily to those who have experienced trauma in their lives. Something as seemingly simple as accepting a compliment may be painfully hard. However, the ability to move past these fears and hesitations is critical on the road to living a full and well-balanced life.

Automatic negative thoughts influence emotions and distort our perception of reality in a negative way. These thoughts are difficult to recognize because they are fleeting and habitual. Negative thoughts can make us feel agitated, anxious, be less productive, cause harm to our relationships, or cause psychological damage.

Love is beautiful. It is to be enjoyed and not forced or imposed on an individual. It can be exciting but when not mastered or understood it can lead to the ruin or even destruction of an individual or couple.

The force that comes with love can be controlling and compelling. If you, as an individual, does not experience self-control, you may end up a victim of love addiction or obsession.

Polarized thinking is when you have an “All-or-Nothing," or “Black and White” thinking pattern. A person with polarized thinking believes they have to be perfect or they are a complete failure because they see things in terms of “either/or” categories.

Betrayal is a painful experience that affects us deeply. Betrayal triggers feelings of anger, sadness, fear, guilt, shame, anxiety, depression, loneliness, and even self-hatred.

Betrayal causes intense emotional pain. The stages of betrayal include denial, bargaining, anger, depression, acceptance and recovery. Understanding these stages can help you cope with betrayal.

There are many reasons why affairs occur. It can occur in happy relationships, as well as troubled relationships. Lack of affection towards your partner can lead to infidelity

The initial discovery of an affair usually triggers powerful emotions for both partners. The partner who has been betrayed may feel traumatized by the break in trust and begins to obsessively think about the affair details.

Affairs can unleash devastating consequences and is often cited as a deal breaker, beating out emotional unavailability and physical abuse. However, the reality is that more than half of married couples decide to work through the affair rather than separate

After an affair you may be faced with a decision to stay or walk away. This is a difficult stage of indecision, trying to figure out what to do.

Being betrayed by a partner can often be traumatic. Traumatic experiences can be followed by intrusive thoughts about the event such as images, thoughts and memories. Sometimes imaginative images from the affair can become intrusive.

Infidelity can be traumatic, which can cause intensely painful emotions for the person who was cheated on. They may begin to experience symptoms that are similar to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

There are three categories of post affair reactions which include intrusion, hyperarousal, and constriction.

When someone with bipolar disorder is experiencing a manic episode, impulsive, reckless sexual behaviors and significantly increased sexual drive are quite common. Such hypersexual behavior is often a warning sign of a manic episode.

The reality of life is that people, who once supported us, drift apart which results in a deterioration of relationships. When this occurs, the crash is not merely psychological, but also physiological.

It is extremely rare to find a relationship where only one person is responsible for all the hurt feelings and conflict. Just as it takes two to tango, it takes two to have conflict in a relationship.

For some of us it is natural to want to please others and make them happy, but sometimes you have to put yourself first. It’s self-care, not selfishness. Setting boundaries is an important part of being an emotionally mature adult. It can be hard to say no, but it’s important to do what is best for you.

What can you do if you or your loved one lacks empathy? It will be important to understand what lack of empathy might look like and then explore ways to build this important emotional skill.

Why would a successful, high achieving person fall for a dysfunctional partner? To family and coworkers on the outside, it doesn’t make any sense.