Is your relationship lacking the intimacy it once had? With the pressure of a busy schedules, economic stress, and the multiple roles we all fill, it is only expected that we are all stressed and exhausted by the end of the day. With our energy levels tapped, our intimacy levels drop too. Carla Rosinski believes that a lack of sexual intimacy can be a symptom of a lack of intimacy in other areas.

Carla Rosinski, founder of Rosinski Therapy and Consultation in Raleigh, NC, has been focusing on counseling families, individuals, and couples for over 10 years. Carla is a licensed professional counselor with a Master’s in Counseling Psychology. When Carla isn’t working with couples she enjoys traveling and spending time with her pup at the dog park. To find out more about Carla Rosinski and Rosinski Therapy and Consultation you can visit her website or call 919-724-1181 for an appointment.

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.

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.

They say that hindsight is 20/20. We often never see the real problems in a relationship until after they have exploded. With couples divorcing at an alarming rate, it may be time to call on a new relationship expert- someone who deals with divorce. There is no better way to learn than from your mistakes; or even better, the mistakes of others. Judge Lynn Toler has worked with divorcing couples for years. She has seen couples at their worst and has been able to use this experience for the good of all relationships.

Judge Lynn Toler is a graduate of Harvard University and The University of Pennsylvania Law School. She has elected and served as judge on the Cleveland Heights Municipal Court. Lynn has hosted such shows as Power of Attorney, Divorce Court, and Decision House. Lynn is also a frequent guest on the NPR show News and Notes. With all of this going on, Lynn has somehow managed to write two books. Her first, My Mother’s Rules: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Emotional Genius, as well as Put It In Writing, a book that gives readers concrete, conflict-free solutions to difficult situations that arise.  To find out more about Lynn, please visit www.JudgeLynn.com. You can catch Judge Lynn in action on Divorce Court, airing weekdays in syndication nationwide. To find out where to watch, check your local listings or go to www.divorcecourt.com.

Let’s face facts, no relationship is perfect! In the “relationship road trip” there are potholes, speed bumps and road kill that all couples have to try steer clear of. More often than not, when we have stopped paying attention, we run into something we didn’t mean to hit.  The best way to protect yourself, and your spouse, is to spot the troubled areas on the road ahead, before you hit them head on.

Dr. Karen Sherman joins us to discuss how to set expectations and enjoy your relationship to the fullest.  Karen is a licensed psychologist in New York and has been in private practice for over 20 years. Karen focuses on relationship and marriage counseling and how to help people achieve their greatest potential. Karen is author of “Mindfulness and The Art of Choice: Transform Your Life” and the co-author of “Marriage Magic! Find It, Keep It, and Make It Last”.  Karen is a featured author on such online forums as Yahoo Personals, ThirdAge.com, and HitchedMag.com.

Karen’s books are available on Amazon.com. To find out more about Karen you can visit her websites, www.ChoiceRelationships.com or www.DrKarenSherman.com.

It takes a lot of moving pieces to make a relationship work; such as patience and compromise. However, perhaps the most important element to any relationship is trust. Without trust a relationship can become stunted from growth. When trust is taken away from a relationship, it can crumble on it’s very foundation. Trust is one of the hardest items to attain and even more difficult to earn back once it is lost.

Dr. Abigail Hirsch, an accomplished scholar of such prestigious academic institutions as Harvard, University of Colorado, and University of Massachusetts,  joins us to discuss how to put trust back into your relationship. Abigail’s background in Clinical Psychology is the driving force behind her website Power of  Two, a marriage counseling website. The results from her online counseling service, Power of Two, have been so successful that the project has received a $2.5 million federal grant dollars. You can find out more about Abigail by visiting www.poweroftwomarriage.com or by calling 877-411-4948

Is your busy work schedule, kids, or financial issues making it hard for you and your partner to feel connected? Is trying to keep up with everything and everyone just weakening your marriage? Stephanie Ladd joins us to discuss how couples can re-ignite their marriage and overcome the lull of long term relationships.

Stephanie Ladd has been practicing Marriage and Family Therapy for 17 years. Before moving to the Chapel Hill/Carboro area she practiced  in California. For several years Ladd has run communication skill groups and parenting classes. You can find out more about Stephanie by visiting saladd.com or by calling (919) 883-9093.

Has weight become an issue in your marriage? Are obesity issues causing health, intimacy, and body image issues for you or your spouse? Dr. Paulomi Raiji joins us to discuss the prevalence of obesity problems in marriages the obesity rate in the country rises, as well covering which spouse is most to suffer from the physical and emotional issues that come with weight gain. She also covers the impact weight gain can have on intimacy in a marriage and where to draw the line between weight gain with age an serious health issues.

Paulomi practices with Lepage Associates in Durham, NC, where in addition to providing holistic clinical services, including cognitive behavioral therapy, guided imagery, and meditation, she specializes in body image and self esteem issues. You can find out more about Paulomi by visiting LepageAssociates.com, or by calling 919-572-0000 for an appointment.

Do you feel disappointment that your marriage isn’t the storybook romance you’d hoped for? Do you find yourself wondering if maybe your partner isn’t the one you were meant to live happily ever after with after all? Jon and Beverly Meyerson are here to talk about what “happily ever after” really means – what really happens after the fairytale wedding, and what you can do to ensure your own happy ending with your spouse.

Jon and Beverly are a married couple who have helped hundreds of other couples both together and on their own – Jon is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Beverly is a Relational Coach – and are the authors of a weekly relationship newsletter and the book After the Glass Slipper: 8 Proven Steps to Lasting Love.

You can find them online at AfterTheGlassSlipper.com, where you can find out more about their book, their advice column, and more. After the Glass Slipper can be purchased from Amazon.

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.

Have you considered traditional marriage counseling, but found yourself curious about other possible options? Marriage workshops are a growing alternative to traditional counseling with a more classroom-like approach, and have been increasing in popularity both with married couples and with engaged couples who want to plan for the future.

Natasha Crawford, founder of a new marriage workshop of her own called the Marriage Academy, joins us today to tell us more about this growing trend and what to expect from it to help you decide if a workshop might be the right choice for you.

Natasha is a licensed North Carolina Marriage and Family Therapist Associate and certified Prepare-Enrich premarital counselor with a private practice in Raleigh. You can find out more about Natasha at her website, NatashaCrawford.com, by following her on Twitter @NatashaCrawford, by calling her office at 919.807.1156, or by visiting her blog at NatashaCrawford.blogspot.com

Adultery leaves many spouses thinking that there will never be any trust in the relationship and that divorce is the inevitable conclusion. How likely is it that your marriage will survive infidelity, and is it possible to rebuild trust and respect?

Mary Jo Rapini joins us to explore the different reasons men and women cheat, the likelihood that a marriage will survive cheating, and a checklist that you can put into place today to repair your marriage if infidelity has damaged the relationship.

Mary Jo is a Licensed Professional Counselor with a private practice in Houston, TX. She also writes a syndicated newspaper column, hosts a television show in Houston, and has appeared on CNN, Headline News, and TLC. You can find out more about Mary Jo at her website, MaryJoRapini.com, where you can get information on her services, books, and videos, as well as read her blog for couples.

Has communicating with your spouse become a lost cause? Does he or she seem not to have any understanding of where you’re coming from, or just flat out refuse to engage – leading to fighting and resentment?

Paul Shaffer joins us to discuss the top 5 factors that create communication stalemates in marriages and other ideas he explores in his book, Conflict Resolution for Couples.

Paul has been a professional counselor for almost 25 years and currently owns his own practice, Right Choices Counseling, in Huntersville, NC. You can find out more about Paul and his practice at RightChoicescounseling.com, or by calling 704.578.2725. You can also purchase Paul’s books, Conflict Resolution for Couples, and Conflict Resolution for Christian Couples from Amazon.com

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.

Is a separation looming on the horizon of your relationship? Ideally, a couple can recognize their problems and get help before divorce is considered an option, but all too often, couples will allow conflict and communication issues to fester until marriage counseling is seen as a last ditch effort on the way to divorce court. Liza Shaw returns to the show to take a look at what puts a couple so close to the edge and what can be done to put the marriage back on the right track.

Liza recommends using resources like MarriageFriendlyTherapists.com and the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy to find a qualified professional to help you and your spouse.

Liza is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist with a private practice in Hickory, NC, where she specializes in couples counseling, family counseling, and grief therapy. You can find out more about Liza and her practice at PowerToThrive.com – or visit PowerToThriveRadio.com for interviews and podcasts. You can also call her office at 828.328.4673

The signs of physical abuse are often easy to recognize, but do you know the indicators of emotional abuse in a relationship? Where do we draw the line between a benign sarcastic exchange every now and then and behavior that is truly hurtful to one or both spouses? Dr. Michael Hall joins us to examine exactly what emotional abuse is, the impact it has on both spouses, and steps you can take to remedy this behavior in your marriage.

Michael owns a private practice in Charlotte, NC where he not only works with individuals and couples for relationship and marriage counseling, he is a well known figure in the corporate and career counseling world as well. You can give Michael a call at 704.858.2984 to find out more.

Sometimes, the hardest part of getting to marriage counseling is taking care of the cost. Not knowing how counselors bill, or how much counseling will cost can end up putting more pressure on an already strained relationship. Dr. Tina Lepage joins us to discuss what options therapists provide and how to find the therapist that is right for you without spending an arm and a leg on initial sessions with different counselors, as well as how to find out when sliding-scale and pro-bono options are available.

Tina is the founder of Lepage Associates, where she focuses on personal and professional relationship issues, as well as children and family therapy, and personal growth. You can find out more about Tina and her staff by visiting her website at LepageAssociates.com, or by calling her office at 919.572.0000

Has physical intimacy taken a back seat to other responsibilities in your marriage?  Have you tried rekindling the spark you and your spouse had when you were first married with little success? Terry Northcutt, Director of Marriage Enrichment Programs with the Family Dynamics Institute,  joins us to discuss how to strengthen that intimate bond and bring passion back to your marriage.  He also discusses the programs and seminars available that are designed to help married couples renew their intimacy.

Terry is a former senior pastor who now serves as the Director of Marriage Enrichment Programs  at the Family Dynamics Institute.    You can find out more about the Family Dynamics Institute and the multitude of courses and workshops they offer by calling 800-650-9995, or visiting FamilyDynamics.net and SaveMyMarriage.com.

Choosing a marriage counselor can be a difficult and sometimes scary task. Where do you find a qualified counselor? Will your insurance cover therapy? How can you be sure that you and your spouse are getting the most out of therapy and that the counselor you have selected is a good fit for your relationship? Amy McMillan joins us to share some tips on where to look and what to look for in a prospective counselor.

Amy is a Board Certified Licensed Professional Counselor. She has been in private practice since 1999 at her Cary office and recently opened up a satellite office in Raleigh. To find out more about Amy and the services she offers, visit her at CaryBehavioral.com and BelieveInTherapy.com

It is often found that when a couple is having marital problems, the wife is in favor of going to marriage counseling while her husband is against the idea. In this 20 minute podcast, Dr. Michael Hall discusses what tactics are doomed to failure and which simple strategies work for wives who want to convince their reluctant husbands to attend counseling.

Dr. Hall enjoys national recognition as an authority on dual-career couples issues. To learn more about Dr. Hall, please visit his bio here or call him at 704.858.2984.