One of the most common questions we get is “how do we create more emotional connection” with each other. The most popular question is about repair, but this is in second place! This is a great question because there isn’t a single answer because it often depends on the season a couple is in and what the most meaningful needs are for each partner in that given season. Nevertheless, the constant creation of emotional connection is one of the single most important elements for having high satisfaction in a marriage.

In this episode, we will reveal what we see as the 5 key components of emotional connection. Though you will have to use each of these aspects and determine how it fits into your current season, you will be much more clear and confident that you can create more closeness with your partner at any time. Being able to do this, you will also feel more secure about facing challenges that arise as a true team!

Relationship Resources:

Join one of the 30 Day Couples Challenges starting Oct 1st, 2024:

Level 1: “Prioritizing Us” is focused on strengthening your connection, communication, and fun “Love Deposit” ideas. LINKED HERE

Level 2: “Rebuilding Us” is focused on repairing and rebuilding after a harder season of marriage. LINKED HERE

It’s important for all of us to admit that we have defensive mechanisms and that we do get defensive with our partners at times. Let’s allow ourselves some grace here. Many of you would probably relate to getting even more defensive about getting defensive! It is common to go on the offensive through deflection or blame, which can leave another feeling that their experience is being invalidated.

However that does not mean that someone is being gaslighted. Gaslighting is a much more serious pattern when it is happening, and is a strong accusation to make that can quickly escalate a conversation or conflict. In this episode you will hear the clear distinction between defensiveness and gaslighting so that you can use the terms properly and reduce escalation. By the end of the episode you will hear 6 different actions to take to reduce both defensiveness and gaslighting in your relations. Both of these lead to erosion of connection, love, and emotional closeness.

Relationship Resources:

Join one of the 30 Day Couples Challenges starting Oct 1st, 2024 - select either one with this link: https://www.meetthefreemans.com/challenges. Or see the individual details below:

Level 1 details: “Prioritizing Us” is focused on strengthening your connection, communication, and fun “Love Deposit” ideas. LINKED HERE

Level 2 details : “Rebuilding Us” is focused on repairing and rebuilding after a harder season of marriage. LINKED HERE

Today we explore the turning points where marriages either survive or fall apart, when they hit that "make it for break it" decision point. We've seen five couples end their relationships recently, one even filing papers yesterday, yet none of them reached out for support from us. Given marriage is what we do, it came as a shock to us when we heard the news.

We know many people have this expereince when they hear about friends ending their relationships. So we want to give you the reasons why couples get to this point and WAYS to work at it. In this episode we provide you with clarity as to the build up that gets couples to this point, but also how they can get THROUGH it together. Not just to survive, but to become more understanding, connected, and stronger as a team to face future challenges!

Relationship Resources:

The “Rebuilding Us” 30-Day Couples Challenge, The Steps to Rebuild a Marriage Guide, and more all LINKED HERE.

How would you rate the amount of stress in your life right now? We all know that some stress is good stress and that it’s a part of life. Its commonly known that stress plays a major role in physical, mental, and emotional well-being of all of us individually. It’s less known (or at least discussed) how much stress decreases marriage satisfaction and quality!

In today’s episode you will learn everything you ever wanted to know about the effects of stress on your marriage. After listening to this episode you will know:

• The 3 sources of stress

• How stress directly affects 2 key components in your marriage

• Ways to use key coping methods to deal with stress individually and together

• 10 + positive coping strategies that you can use to better handle the current stressors that you are facing in your life and marriage. So that you can feel relief and be on the same side no matter what stress you face.

Relationship Resources:

1) You can find all of our resources from guides, webclasses, events, to coaching sessions with this link: Best Resources

2)Join us at the in-person Couples Workshop in Arizona on Oct 6th, 2024. Use this as a weekend getaway for you and your partner and attend this 1/2 day event with us to communicate even better and handle challeges as a team.

When there is tension or an upset in your marriage, it’s easy to point the finger at your partner as the source of the discomfort. But this often leads to further conflict. It also does not address this critical aspect of being in a marriage for a long time… that growth is a part of it! The common question for those that see these events as places to grow is “well, is this a me thing, a you thing, or a we thing”!

Today’s episode is more motivational (and aspirational) about growth in your relationship. You will hear how you can quickly distinguish between the necessary individual work that needs to be done as well as the relationship work that needs to be focused on. After listening to this episode you both will feel more grace for each other with the reminder that you are in this to grow and you are in it together!

Relationship Resources:

1) Discover all our online resources here: https://www.meetthefreemans.com/links

2) Join us at the in-person Couples Workshop on Oct 6th, 2024. As of this episode, the event is 60% sold out so don't wait to grab your seats for this relationship changing event!

Last week’s episode focused on husbands was a huge hit, so this week we’re focusing on what inner-challenge wives are struggling with and how it’s affecting marriages. In this episode, we dive into the pressure many wives feel to constantly do more, grow more, and be more—often at the expense of their own well-being.

This relentless pursuit can lead to burnout, resentment, and a disconnect in marriages. We’ll explore why it’s crucial to recognize these patterns, how they impact your relationship, and what you can do to create a healthier, more balanced approach. Tune in to discover how you can start making small shifts that will lead to a stronger, more fulfilling marriage.

As you listen, make sure you sign-up for the upcoming 30-Day “Prioritizing Us” Couples Challenge so you can:

• Fill each other’s Love Accounts

• Strengthen your connection & communication

• And consistently feel like your marriage (and your satisfaction) is a top priority

Men are facing an inner-challenge that is also affecting the marriage. For men to feel a sense of meaning, empowerment, responsibility, value, and achievement they have to show up in the eternal world a certain way. Whether this be in business, profession, managing finances or contracts for the family, relationships with family/friends; men are supposed to show up as warriors, lions, unstoppable, and unshakeable in their pursuits…

But at home that same mentality causes issues and conflicts. Men are then supposed to be understanding, supportive, slow to anger, quick to listen, and in a loving attitude to meet their spouses needs. But without knowing how to transition back to being a partner; men can be defensive, quick to react, withdrawn, and with poor coping and communication with their partners. In this episode you will hear about how men can navigate this internal conflict so they can both be the warrior and protect the family in the outside world, and be a loving partner and father.

Relationship Resources:

Level 1: “Prioritizing Us” is focused on strengthening your connection, communication, and fun “Love Deposit” ideas. LINKED HERE

Level 2: “Rebuilding Us” is focused on repairing and rebuilding after a harder season of marriage. LINKED HERE

Are you able to have a disagreement with your partner without fighting against each other? To be honest many couples view having a disagreement as a fight, because anytime they disagree and there is a little bit of emotion, it always turns into a fight. We are here to tell you that you can disagree while staying on the same team and moving down the decision making path together to find the best route for both of you and your future.

In this episode you will hear 6 different tools/skills to implement in a moment of disagreement that will keep you on the same side and avoid it turning into a conflict or fight. This is a significant and powerful episode as you cannot avoid disagreement in a marriage, but you can use that to gain understanding and make even better decisions as a couple, rather than have it turn into a fight.

Relationship Resources:

1) Visit our top resources for the season you are in, find anything from guides, to challenges, courses, and even attending an in person workshop: https://www.meetthefreemans.com/links

2) The Next Couples Workshop is Oct 6th, 2024, in Arizona: http://thecouplesworkshop.com/