Dear Neil: I am a 38 year-old woman who has recently married a 50 year-old man with two grown children. I would dearly love a baby, but each time this issue is raised he gets hostile. He has had a vasectomy, but my time for having children is ticking by. I feel if I raise […]
Oftentimes, people fight about essentially nothing. Take, for instance, the following example of a couple trying to decide which restaurant to go to. She says: “Let’s eat Chinese food tonight.” He says: “I’d prefer pizza.” She says: “We always eat pizza, let’s try something else.” He says: “Pizza is what I like. I don’t want […]
Dear Neil: Before marrying my husband, I was concerned with his inability to communicate his feelings, but I hoped that once he left his family he would come out of his shell. After four years of marriage, I found myself lonely and was left to my own devices every weekend because he enjoyed restoring classic […]
Dear Neil: My boyfriend and I have been dating for several months. I am in my 20’s, and am in university. He’s moving at the end of next month an hour away (I do not have a car), and when he gets another contract, he could be going anywhere. This man is someone I think […]
Can you hear feelings and opinions about yourself without becoming defensive? Can you hear honest feedback from someone you love or care about, or do you force loved ones to walk on eggshells around you so as not to offend you? This column is going to challenge you to talk—and listen—openly and honestly with your […]
Note: This is the second of a two-part series. Click here for part one No adult reading this article is likely to be a novice when it comes to romance. Most of us have been around the block once or twice when it comes to our experiences in an intimate relationship, and some of us have been […]
Note: This is the first of a two-part series. Click here for part two Underneath all our differences, men and women both want the same things: to be loved, cared for, respected, appreciated and desired. To have a place of safety and security where we can be ourselves, and where we can grow and mature. And we all […]
In case you need a refresher about how to romance the man/woman in your life, here are a variety of romantic suggestions. Tell your mate that you—love, adore, admire, cherish, desire, want, need, prize, esteem, idolize, revere, treasure—him/her. Plan a “mystery date” for next month. Plan sexy surprises. Shower together by candlelight. Change one bad […]
Essential Skills that Intimate Relationships Require of Us Note: This is the second of a two-part series. Click here for part one This is a continuation of the skills required in order to keep a relationship close and romantic over time: Taking an active interest in the other person. Being interested in his/her feelings, thoughts, […]
Over the course of my career, I have come across thousands of stories about intimate relationships that have gone wrong. About a parent who drops out of a child’s life, about children rejecting their parents, about spouses or lovers who turn mean—or who reject or betray each other—about siblings having a falling out and never […]