Me/Us? Personal identity, the self-defining kind, helps us to make the big life choices such as college, career, mate, when to breed, as well as small ones such as shoe selection, hair color and movies. Each time we say yes or no to something, we are giving off a whiff of who we are. When [...]
Jill Edelman
Strangers On The Couch: Couples Therapy
Written by Jill Edelman M.S.W., L.C.S.W.In Translation: “Let me introduce you to your mate.” This is what I would like to say to my patients “on the couch” more often than not. Have you met before? I feel as if my job as their therapist is to be translator, interpreter, facilitator and teacher to two people who at times speak [...]
Spotlight on The Heart: Valentine’s Day
Written by Jill Edelman M.S.W., L.C.S.W.What’s Tough About February 14? Besides the possibility of being caught in a winter blizzard, February 14 is the one day a year when the cultural spotlight aims its beams of light on the heart of the relationship. How soft, flattering or harsh the light feels, depends on the health of that heart, year to [...]
Lying While Cycling: Do Liars Change?
Written by Jill Edelman M.S.W., L.C.S.W.Big Stakes Question: Will I ever be able to trust you again? Lies, a pattern of lying, finally exposed and then at last a forced coming clean; what does any of that mean? Frankly there is no more powerful issue in couples therapy – in all interpersonal linkages, than this question: Do liars change? Lance [...]
Tidying Up The Holiday Mess: The Coupledom Hangover
Written by Jill Edelman M.S.W., L.C.S.W.Blight on the New Year: The ornaments are boxed, the ball has dropped and the seasonal remains of the day have been put away yet there remains some unwanted detritus from the holiday past. Those sticky, hard-to-get-off-the-soles-of-your shoes type of goo where some clash or alienation has occurred, either within the Coupledom or between the Coupledom [...]
Coupledom Resolutions Revisited: New Years 2013
Written by Jill Edelman M.S.W., L.C.S.W.New Couples, Veteran Couples: Here are a few suggestions for the ritual of joint resolution that we call the New Year. When the ball drops this odd numbered post electoral New Year be prepared. Talking Heads: Vow to aim for eye contact when you have verbal exchanges as much as possible. The walking out of [...]
Bracing For Santa: Holiday Performance Anxiety In The Coupledom
Written by Jill Edelman M.S.W., L.C.S.W.Anticipating Complications: If you notice, as the days darken and talk of turkeys and Black Friday fill the air, that your insides have begun to retract and breathing has become a more shallow affair, perhaps you are suffering from Holiday Performance Anxiety. And if the communication between you and your partner about when to leave [...]
You Don’t Need The FBI to Out Your Affair: Mechanisms of Denial
Written by Jill Edelman M.S.W., L.C.S.W.Lordy, Lordy: General Petraeus, General Allen, authors, triathlon athletes, West Point, Harvard, Tampa, military hostesses, radiologists, the FBI, a colossal mess for the U.S. And we were just trying to gain some footing after the tumult and havoc of Sandy and Election 2012. Nope, there is no peace for the human psyche when under the [...]
Missing Teeth and Bully Wives: Aggression in The Coupledom
Written by Jill Edelman M.S.W., L.C.S.W.Guatemala: I journeyed to Antigua, a Spanish colonial World Heritage city in Central America’s Guatemala, where a family member currently resides. At the steps of a church in partial ruins were a little girl and her mother who were selling votives. I purchased a votive in exchange for a photo of the pair. When I [...]
Tone, Look, Word (TLW): Stop the Poison Communication
Written by Jill Edelman M.S.W., L.C.S.W.A Volley of Gunfire Or A Conversation: Negative Communications. There are endless reasons why couples find themselves choosing tones, looks and words that insult, mock, tease and demean their partner. Hurt and angry feelings are no strangers to any relationship. The sarcastic tone, rolling eyes, mouth twisted in a smirk, and words that sting, all [...]