Dr. Coleman has the power to single handedly slow down the rate of divorce.
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My husband and I have an ongoing discussion about limit setting. He feels like I’m too loose with our kids and I feel like he’s too strict. What’s the balance? Sincerely, Read More
As a psychologist, I am privy to the gaping distance of understanding that so many parents feel with their adult children. Many of these parents are in enormous pain. In some cases, their children have cut off contact with them for years, while others for only a few months. Some for obvious crimes of parenting and others for seeming misdemeanors. I make no judgment. I know that what can seem innocent or even well-intended from the parents’ perspective can be experienced as hurtful and disorienting from the child’s. I also know that adult children don’t cut off their parents unless they think they have to. Read More
There are several steps to keep in mind when fighting fair. It is important to explain your point of view to your partner in a calm and respectful way in order to keep the argument civilized.
Jamie Lee Curtis recently wrote in the Huffington Post that the problems with Paris, and, presumably, Britney and Lindsay, can be explained by bad mothering. According to the numerous posts about her article, most people found her analysis spot on. I could see why: Paris’s mother laughed at the judge when he handed down her sentence and, apparently, Lindsay’s mom partied with her while she was still a minor. This wouldn’t qualify as good parenting in anyone’s book. Read More
With our divorce-happy culture, it is easy to give in to the belief that you have married the wrong person. Do not rush into a separation. Instead, go to personal counseling, go to couples counseling. Make an effort to save your marriage.
Though it is very important for your children to see you forming new, healthy relationships with the ones around you, it is also important that they get to spend time with you as their parent. Sometimes step fathers or step mothers are so worried about bonding with their new step children that they sometimes neglect their own children by mistake. Remember to communicate with you children about their thought and feeling so that no one gets hurt in the process of forming the new family.
Making it Work!
Here’s a potentially depressing fact: for many couples, marital satisfaction takes a huge plunge when they become parents and their marriages don’t reach pre-child levels of satisfaction until the kids are teens or go off to college. Yikes! Isn’t there something couples can do? Yes, and the studies show that when couples do these things, their marital satisfaction stays up. Read More
Dr. Coleman was invited to speak to the faculty and students on Dual-Career Couples at Harvard in November 2010
NPR Talk of the Nation: How women’s increased economic and educational power are changing marriage.
NPR On Point with Tom Ashbrook
Dr. Joshua Coleman is an internationally known expert in parenting, families, and relationships. He is Co-Chair of the Council on Contemporary Families and is a psychologist with a private practice in the San Francisco Bay Area.
What are some tips to being a good husband?
Whether you want to are not, you should really express your feelings about things that make you feel vulnerable. Sharing your feelings with your spouse will help them feel closer to you and find deeper connections within your relationship.