When Your Partner Pushes Back on “The Past”

I want to tell you about a couple I worked with recently during a Couples Counseling Intensive.Let’s call them Ozzie and Harriet.They were long-married, thoughtful, deeply committed to one another, and genuinely invested in their relationship. They weren’t in crisis. There was no betrayal, no looming breakup. But something subtle and persistent had been wearing on them.Harriet had been feeling increasingly anxious as they prepared to complete a big project together. Ozzie, on the other hand, felt unfairly criticized. He experienced Harriet’s anxiety as blame—like she was holding him responsible for not solving a problem fast enough or well enough.They both wanted relief. But even more than that, they wanted to find their way back to understanding each other.The Repair Your Relationship Podcast is hosted by Stacey Curnow, a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor and Relationship Specialist, and founder of Asheville Family Counseling.