April 2020 – Save The Marriage: Even if only YOU want to!

Quarantined Together or Apart

https://savethemarriage.com/stmblog/wp-content/themes/corpus/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg 150 150 Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D. https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/669b7e375d93f77521ddaba08adb8063?s=96&d=blank&r=pg April 29, 2020 April 28, 2020

By: Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D.

April 29, 2020

If a marriage crisis was not enough to deal with… now we have a pandemic. And if that was not enough, we are self-isolating. The pandemic isn’t anything we can control. Self-isolating is best for ourselves and others.

What, though, does that mean about your marriage crisis? How do you deal with that? In the midst of the pandemic? And while self-isolating.

That breaks down into 4 different groups: Isolating together but working alone, isolating together and working together, isolating apart and working alone, and isolating apart but working together. Each has some nuances that need your attention.

I cover some recommendations for each group, and explain why it makes a difference.

Listen in below.

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Finding the Energy – Continuing your Efforts

By: Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D.

April 22, 2020

“I’m just out of energy,” she told me, “I don’t think I can even try to save my marriage. Besides, what is the point?”

Let’s face it: right now, many people are feeling exhausted and drained. And working to save a marriage can be tiring when the world is rightside-up. Much less when everything feels upside down!

Many people feel pulled in so many questions… but when something is important… as important as marriage… why does it get shifted down? Relegated to the “left over energy,” if there is any?

There are some underlying reasons why it may feel like there is no more energy… and it isn’t really about not having energy.

More importantly, there are some things you can do to do an “energy reset.” Make a shift… then save your marriage.

I cover the underlying issues and the way to solve them in this episode of the Save The Marriage Podcast. Listen below.

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Proving Your Perception (is dangerous)

By: Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D.

April 15, 2020

I can’t count how many times a couple has come to me for “help with our communication skills.” Funny thing is, they communicate just fine.

Then why are they stuck in conflict? Why are they disconnected? Why does it seem like they aren’t on the same team?

Perceptions. About each other and about the situation that caused the conflict.

And because they have decided to prove their perception to their spouse. That is very dangerous. Rarely is it successful, but always is it damaging.

There are 2 underlying issues that affect this: being a WE and being connected. How strong is your sense of WE, and how connected are you? When you don’t feel like you are on the same team and/or are feeling disconnected, it is far harder to communicate about the differences in perception. More than that, you are unlikely to prove your connection to your spouse… especially when disconnected, but almost always.

How do you solve it?

We discuss what to do in this episode of the Save The Marriage Podcast.

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Coping with COVID Series

By: Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D.

April 11, 2020

What a time we are living through in the world! The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many parts of culture and the economy to a screeching halt. Other parts are overwhelmed with the pace.

Frontline and essential workers are feeling the overwhelm of responsibility. Most of the rest are feeling the overwhelm of isolation.

We WILL get through this. That is what we, as humans, do. We overcome. We rise to the challenge. We push through. And we will do the same with this crisis.

But between here and there, we have to live. We can move beyond just surviving. We just start with surviving. And we reach from there.

Over the past month, I have been releasing podcast episodes that focus on dealing with the COVID crisis, both in terms of thriving and in terms of relationships.

I have grouped them together here, so you can find them easily. Some are from my Thriveology Podcast, and others from my Save The Marriage Podcast.

Here they are:

RELATIONSHIP-ORIENTED

What Now? – Saving your marriage in the midst of a pandemic

Staying the Course in a Crisis (or 2)

Coping as a Couple Caught in COVID Quarantine

Time for a Relationship Reset?

THRIVING-ORIENTED

Thriving in an Age of Panic

Stay Sane While Staying Safe

How to Hope in Tough Times

The Fear/Anxiety Contagion

Time for a Relationship Reset?

By: Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D.

April 8, 2020

Unless you are hiding out in a cave somewhere (I read about a person who had been on a silent retreat — went in with everything normal and came out to the pandemic), your world has been topsy-turvy.

We will get through this. The pandemic will pass. But this isn’t about, “and then, we will get back to life.” Life is happening right now. And we won’t be going “back to normal,” either. There are some fundamental changes happening in culture. We didn’t just hit “pause” when people went into isolation. And we won’t simply “un-pause” when it is safe to un-isolate.

Society is in for a shift. How it shifts, that depends upon us, the members of society. There is, I believe, great potential for a shift to what really matters. Not what we have been believing matters. It won’t be about money, power, or prestige. It will be about meaning, purpose, connection, and character. (At least, that is my hope.)

Why does that matter? How does that affect your marriage? I believe there is an opportunity, in the midst of the chaos, for a “Relationship Reset.” It is an opportunity to reconsider the crisis and find a way to resolve it by staying married, not by leaving.

Discover the 3 reasons why this might be the time for a Reset, and 3 things to do to facilitate it in this week’s Save The Marriage Podcast. Listen below.

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Coping as a Couple Caught in COVID Quarantine

By: Lee H. Baucom, Ph.D.

April 1, 2020

Are you suddenly finding yourself and your spouse stuck together, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic? Is it suddenly very close quarters?

If your marriage wasn’t struggling before, this may be the stressor that pushes your relationship into crisis.

Or it might just be the turning point to a thriving marriage.

What can you do during this time, for yourself and your marriage? On this episode of the Save The Marriage Podcast, I explore 3 areas on which you can focus. And in each area, I give 2 suggestions for what you can do to survive the crisis, weather the storm, and help both your marriage and yourself.

Listen to the episode below.

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