Find yourself at odds with your spouse about how to spend your hard earned money? Although no one likes to admit to being materialistic, we all are. How can we not be? Our entire society runs off one thing…money. We need it to put a roof over our head, food in our bodies and function in this world. With something like this playing such a huge role in our lives it is bound to come up in our relationships.

Jessie Sell, a marriage and family therapist with a private practice in Durham, NC believes in using an interpersonal approach with her clients, meaning the better relationship between her and the client, the better the success. Over the last 12 years Jessie has worked in a variety of settings including higher education and non-profit agencies. Now she works with couples hoping to overcome issues in their relationships. To find out more about Jessie Sell you can visit her website or call 919-225-3478 for an appointment.

Ever feel like your spouse isn’t listening? Some people think that dating and getting to know someone can be the hardest part of a relationship. It requires a great amount of effort on both parts to keep things progressing. However, the hardest part of a relationship is actually the stage that most largely encapsulates a relationship, the “comfortable phase”. We know our partner so well we could tell you their schedule without hesitation. We know all of their stories and have heard all of their jokes. It’s at this point in a relationship that a lot of people tend to tune the other spouse out and begin navigating on autopilot. This lack of effort can lead to feelings of disconnection with your spouse. Our guest today believes that mindfulness is what can will help to keep your relationship fresh and to keep you heard.

Dr. Jessica Barry of Wynns Family Psychology in Cary, NC joins us today. Jessica earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Argosy University in Washington D.C. Jessica predominantly works with children, teens, couples and families that have difficulty coping with a wide range of social, emotional and behavioral issues. Jessica’s doctoral dissertation, which will prove especially useful today, was written about the use of Mindfulness techniques. When Jessica isn’t busy working with couples she enjoys spending time hiking, drawing, and cooking with her fiancé. To find out more about Dr. Jessica Barry you can visit the Wynns Family Psychology website or call 919-467-7777 for an appointment.

Is constant interference from your in-laws killing your marriage? We’ve all seen a football game where everything went from fantastic to devastating in mere minutes. It looks like a clear win; your team is ahead, defeating all obstacles in their path. Then BOOM, out of nowhere interference by the other team turns the game around entirely. What was once an easy game turns messy and complicated very quickly. A good relationship can overcome a lot of obstacles that the world throws at it, but constant interference from an outside source can create larger rifts that are hard to overcome.

Dr. Nicole Imbraguglio is Clinical Director at Lepage Associates in Durham, NC where she provides counseling and evaluation services to individuals of all ages. She is experienced in individual, couples, and group therapy and specializes in couples issues. She holds her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a minor in Interpersonal Dynamics, as well as a Master’s degree in Community and Clinical Psychology. To find out more about Dr. Nicole Imbraguglio you can visit the Lepage Associates website or call 919-572-0000 for an appointment.

“Relationships aren’t destroyed by cataclysmic arguments. They are eroded by the little things that happen over time. We’re all excited when a relationship starts. We watch what we do. We edit our actions and mind our words. We gloss over the details because we love the dream of what could be. We sacrifice the now for what we want in the future. As our relationship grows, we get comfortable. We stop editing ourselves and return to our old habits… Respect is eroded through the forgetful actions that make you feel as if you don’t matter like you once did…. Yes, relationships usually end in cataclysmic fight, but that is not where they are torn apart”. This insider view of the deterioration of a relationship comes from author Jeff Cannon who believes that meditation is the solution to resolving this age-old dilemma.

Jeff Cannon is the author of the book The Simple Truth: Meditation and Minfulness for the Modern World. Jeff was a fast-track entrepreneur with a portfolio of successful businesses, multiple book publishings, produced documentaries and ran his own public relations agency. Then it all came to a crashing halt at the end of 2009. That day he woke up on a hospital bed recovering from a ten-hour surgery that removed six of seven brain tumors. A long time devotee of the marital arts and yoga, Jeff used meditation to reboot and retrain his brain. He learned firsthand how the brain is hard wired just as it had been 40,000 years ago. More important he learned how it could be reprogrammed through such practices as meditation and mindfulness. Jeff’s book is now available on Amazon.com. To find out more about Jeff Cannon you can visit his website online.

Are you the outcast in your stepfamily? Dating and marriage is a process that is complicated enough on it’s own, never mind coming into a family that has already been established. Marrying someone with children from a previous relationship can be a delicate mind field that requires a certain finesse to master.

Certified Master Stepfamily Coach, Claudette Chenevert, found herself in a similar situation over twenty years ago when she, a single mom to a 6 year old boy, married her husband. She became a stepmom to two girls. After several years worth of failures and successes Claudette was able to determine what steps needed to be taken to successfully integrate oneself into an established family and make it function on its own. From the constant presence of an ex to taking on a parenting role over night, Claudette knows how to handle it all. To find out more about Claudette or her approach, you can visit her Stepmom Coach website.

Is your inability to read your partner ruining your relationship? We’ve all stumbled into those relationship traps where it can feel like we’re constantly sticking our foot in our mouths. Anything we say or do seems to land us even further into hot water with our spouse. Perhaps you’ve been stuck in similar situations in the past? Relationship coach, Dave Elliott, thinks that the only tools you need to solve this problem, for now and ever, are a hug and a kiss.

When it comes to making sense of the often mystifying topic of relationships, Dave Elliott is an international Relationship Coach and human behavior specialist who breaks down complex concepts into easily understandable principles and practices. With his deep understanding of human motivational psychology, Dave helps people pull back the curtain in a non-judgmental way on why they and their partner do what they do over and over again. Dave travels around the nation working with groups and individuals supporting Anthony Robbins, one of the world’s foremost authorities on peak performance psychology. In 2011, Dave was honored as a Man of the Year candidate for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Dave joins us today to talk to us about how your relationship can be saved and revitalized using his H.U.G. & K.I.S.S. Hierarchy. To find out more Dave Elliot and the H.U.G.S. & K.I.S.S.E.S. program you can visit Relationship Fix Now or Legendary Love For Life.

Anxiety is reaching epidemic proportions with nearly 50% of Americans meeting the criteria for an anxiety disorder at some point in their life. We worry about money, our health, safety, car accidents, whether or not people like us, traveling, work, and more. All this worry takes a huge toll-wasting an enormous amount of time and energy that would be better spent elsewhere. An often overlooked area of concern is the impact of anxiety on our close relationships. Dr. Christine Korol is a cognitive-behavioral therapist who specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders and sees the consequences of untreated anxiety on the relationships of many of her patients.

Dr. Christine Korol is a psychologist specializing in anxiety and stress in adults and children and is currently practicing in Calgary, Alberta. She has worked for many years, in both private practice and in hospital settings, and is a former lecturer at the University of British Columbia. Christine is also a cartoonist and author of the blog Wired to Worry and is currently working on an illustrated guide on anxiety management. To find out more about Dr. Korol you can visit her site, Therapy Works.

Is your constant bickering ruining your relationship? We’ve all been in a relationship where the fights just never seem to end. We bicker about the little things, the big things, and the things that would matter to no one but us. What does all of this constant fighting do to our relationships? Acclaimed author Laurie Puhn joins us to discuss how fighting affects your relationship, as well as how to overcome the endless fighting cycle.

Laurie has a Bachelor’s and law degree from Harvard University. Formerly a corporate attorney, she is now a recognized expert in the field of couples mediation and conflict resolution. Laurie has a private practice in couples mediation in Manhattan. Her empowering, fast and simple mediation approach for keeping relationships strong and healthy is what sets her apart from other relationship experts. She is the author of the national bestseller “Fight Less, Love More: 5-Minute Conversations to Change Your Relationship without Blowing Up or Giving In”. When Laurie isn’t busy writing books she is often featured as an expert guest on shows such as Good Morning America, The Early Show, Fox News Channel, Weekend Today, 20/20, and CNN. Her relationship communication advice has been featured in Good Housekeeping, Real Simple, Redbook, Newsday, and The New York Times. Lastly, Laurie is also a syndicated columnist and Huffington Post blogger.

To find out more about Laurie or her book you can visit www.fightlesslovemore.com. Laurie’s book is available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble for purchase.

Should you stay married or not? Are the issues in your relationship big enough to warrant a divorce. No matter how perfect a relationship may seem to the outside observer, there are always issues within a relationship that put stress on each of the partners. Although we may love our spouse, we can find ourselves questioning the relationship. It could be the annoying habit of one spouse or a lack of communication and respect. Several problems could leave us wondering if the relationship is really worth all of the effort. Unless the problem is acknowledged and resolved, this could spell a split, or even a divorce, for some.

For more than 20 years, Dr. Robin Siebold has worked with individuals and organizations imparting the skills, insights and strategies that make life more manageable and meaningful. She specializes in divorce and relationship issues, communication skills, and codependency. Robin is a licensed mental health counselor and maintains a private practice in Florida. Robin has recently published a book called To Divorce or Not: Reflections of the Self, which is now available on Amazon. To find out more about Robin you can always check out her website at www.robinsiebold.com.

Do either you or your partner have anxieties about your relationship?  Are you uncomfortable getting too close?  The way you each feel and behave in your relationship may actually be linked to your individual attachment styles.

Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr. Amir Levine joins us to talk about the the theory behind Attached, a new book about adult attachment theory that he co-authored with Rachel S. F. Heller.  Amir is a graduate of Columbia University with his own practice in Manhattan, and is presently working at Columbia as a Principal Investigator on a research project sponsored by the National Institute of Health.

Attached can be purchased online from Amazon or from any major bookseller.  You can find out more about the book and about Amir by visiting AttachedTheBook.com.

Is your marriage no longer magical, but just plain miserable?  Does it feel like you’re trapped with no way of fixing things, to the point where you’re fantasizing about divorce, or worse?  Alisa Bowman returns to the show to discuss her upcoming book, Project: Happily Ever After – Saving Your Marriage When the Fairytale Falters, a personal account of her marriage at its worst and how she and her husband managed to put the pieces back together.

Alisa keeps up a blog at ProjectHappilyEverAfter.com, and has been featured on news shows and in publications across the country.  Her book, which comes out December 28, can be preordered from Amazon.com, and will be available after its release at all major booksellers.

Is it possible that the one hour a week approach to marriage counseling could be doing more harm than good to your relationship? Is the marriage counseling model driven more by the counselors, or by what your insurance will cover?

John Wilder joins us to discuss the difference between the counseling and coaching models of marriage therapy and why the manner in which insurance companies reimburse clients for marriage counseling has created a system that puts your relationship in jeopardy. John is in private practice in New Castle Indiana and has just finished his upcoming book, You Can Achieve Happily Ever After and Improve Your Love Life Too.