Love & Cherish Podcast with Laura How

Is your wife warm with everyone but you? Avoidant attachment can leave a marriage physically and emotionally starved — and here's what actually helps. She hugs her friends, she fusses the dog, she's affectionate with the children. Just not with you. You go to kiss her mouth and you get the cheek. You reach for a hug and a quick pat on the back tells you that's enough. And the harder you try to show her you're someone worth wanting, the further she pulls away. This video explains why that happens, why nothing you've tried has worked, and what to do differently from here. 👉 Want to work through this with someone? Book online therapy with me or my team: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ Most men in this position do one of two things. They chase — crowding, hinting, explaining, applying pressure. Or they withdraw — sulking, stonewalling, going cold. Both tell an avoidant wife exactly the same thing: this person isn't safe. And healing an attachment wound simply isn't possible where threat is present. There is a third way, and it starts with understanding that you're not dealing with someone who's cruel. You're dealing with someone who's wounded. In this video, I cover: ✔️ What a sexually avoidant wife actually looks like day to day, beyond the bedroom ✔️ The two types of avoidant attachment, dismissive and fearful, and how each one forms ✔️ Why your needs feel like a threat to her, and why closeness made it worse ✔️ Why shame, not indifference, is what keeps her stuck ✔️ The anxious and avoidant responses that are quietly making things worse ✔️ How to be steady, clear and honest without applying pressure ✔️ What a 2013 study of 180 couples found about the men whose avoidant partners stayed engaged ✔️ How and when to raise it, and why saying it once matters more than saying it well ✔️ What you can reasonably ask of her, and why frightened doesn't mean exempt ✔️ Why talking therapy alone often isn't enough, and what worked for me instead ✔️ How to run weekly check-ins that don't become grievance sessions ✔️ How my husband and I came through our own version of all this A note before you watch: this video is for men who are genuinely safe, faithful and kind. Nothing here applies to marriages involving abuse or coercion. And many of these behaviours can point to other legitimate causes — physical, medical, or something in the marriage itself. This is a pattern to recognise, not a diagnosis to hand anyone. Ready to stop pushing against a wall, and start building the conditions where your wife can actually move towards you? 👉 Read the full article: https://laurahow.com/married-to-a-sexually-avoidant-wife/ 👉 Join the Good Wife Club (women-only community, monthly live with me): https://laurahow.com/good-wife-club/ 👉 Join the Good Husband Club (men-only community, monthly live with me): https://laurahow.com/good-husband-club/ 👉 Book an online session with me or my team: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ 👉 One-Day Couples Intensive (for stuck or sexless marriages): https://laurahow.com/1-day-couples-intensive/ 👉 Book recommendations on marriage and intimacy: https://laurahow.com/book-recommendations/ 💬 Let me know in the comments: what's the one thing you've never been able to say to her, and what do you think is really in the way? 🔗 Follow me for more: Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ X (Twitter) → https://x.com/laurahow 🔔 Subscribe for weekly videos on marriage, intimacy, and the conversations most couples avoid: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg?sub_confirmation=1 ⏱️ Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction – When She's Warm With Everyone But You 1:12 Why She Shuts Down When You Bring It Up 2:15 Who This Video Is (and Isn't) For 3:00 Understanding Avoidant Attachment: She's Wounded, Not Cruel 3:32 The Two Types: Dismissive vs. Fearful Avoidant 4:40 Why She Experiences Your Needs as a Threat 6:40 The Good News: Attachment Styles Can Change 8:12 The Two Responses That Make Things Worse 9:50 Keep Telling the Truth in Your Marriage 10:36 How to Talk to an Avoidant Wife 13:19 Naming Rejection Without Escalating 14:18 What You Can Ask of Her 15:30 The Gradual Approach: Sensate Focus & Small Steps 16:59 Scheduling Regular Check-Ins 19:06 Laura's Personal Story: What Recovery Actually Looks Like 20:35 What's Possible: Secure Attachment & a Thriving Marriage 📌 Hashtags #AvoidantAttachment #SexlessMarriage #MarriageAdvice

When your wife says she “doesn’t feel safe,” it might sound like an accusation. What does that even mean, and how is it your fault when you’ve worked hard to provide? In this team episode, Marijke, Zac and I unpack what safety actually means for women and for men, why it affects desire, and how two people who love each other end up feeling unsafe with the one person who’s meant to be home. 👉 Book online sessions with Zac or Marijke: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ In this episode, we discuss: ✔️ Why women carry a constant, low-level scan for safety — and how it follows them into the bedroom ✔️ “Diffuse awareness” vs single focus — why a loud, messy, overwhelming environment can switch desire off ✔️ How men signal stress as aggression or brooding — and why it can feel frightening even when nothing is wrong ✔️ The archetypal homecoming row — “What’s wrong with you?” — and the argument that ends any chance of sex ✔️ Why women read men better than men read themselves — and the energy you carry through the door ✔️ What men actually hear in “I don’t feel safe” — and why it lands like an attack ✔️ Gottman’s love map — why sharing your day is for the relationship, not just for you ✔️ Pokes vs strokes — and the five-to-one ratio that keeps a marriage warm ✔️ The power of specific praise — and why “you’re amazing” means nothing ✔️ “I love you” vs “Do you like me?” — the question that changes everything ✔️ The double bind of wanting to feel liked while withholding the very thing he needs ✔️ Laying down the sword — why real intimacy takes courage, vulnerability and surrender We record this monthly — we’d love to hear from you. 👉 Leave your questions in the comments for the next episode. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More ways to connect and grow: 💠 Therapists — Work with me: https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ 💠 Join my newsletter: https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ 💠 Support my work: https://laurahow.com/support/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📲 Follow me: Instagram → / laurahow Facebook → / laurahowcounsellor Twitter (X) → / laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚️ Timestamps: ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags #SexlessMarriage #EmotionalSafety #MarriageAdvice #CouplesTherapy #RelationshipAdvice #MarriageCounselling #IntimacyInMarriage #LauraHow #FeelingSafe #LoveAndCherishPodcast

Leigh Fitzpatrick Snead spent years navigating unexplained infertility before becoming a mother of four sons through adoption. Her debut book, Infertile But Fruitful: Finding Fulfillment When You Can't Conceive (Sophia Institute Press, 2026), is the book she wishes had existed when she was a young woman carrying that cross alone — a memoir, a resource, and a quiet argument that a marriage can be fruitful in ways that go far beyond biology. In this conversation, Leigh sits down with Laura to talk about the early shock of realising pregnancy might not happen, the complicated pull of IVF and why she and her husband Carter ultimately chose a different path, the grief that lingers even after four adopted sons arrive, and the everyday, stubborn work of keeping a marriage alive through all of it. She's honest about the jealousy, the shame, the self-blame that can sneak in, and generous about what held her and Carter together when the statistics say most couples don't make it through. Toward the end of the conversation, Laura asks Leigh to speak directly to the heart of what Love & Cherish is about — the sexual and emotional connection inside a long marriage, and how you protect it across decades, children, careers, and seasons where life simply gets in the way. Leigh's answer is one of the warmest and most grounded things we've had on the podcast. Whether you're walking the road of infertility yourself, love someone who is, or simply want to hear two women talk honestly about marriage, adoption, grief, and joy, this one is worth your time. CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction 0:40 First Realizing Infertility 4:45 Writing the Book 6:08 The Impact of Honest Storytelling 9:32 The IVF Temptation & Catholic Ethics 10:14 Seeing a Fertility Doctor 11:37 Dr. Hilgers & the Creighton Method 17:49 Walking Out on the IVF Doctor 18:09 Choosing Adoption 19:58 Life in Indiana & Building Community 21:07 Pursuing Both Adoption and Fertility Treatment 29:22 Grieving Infertility 35:39 Raising Sons & Modeling Marriage 38:42 Infertility's Impact on Marriage 41:58 Marriage Advice 56:54 Tally Keeping in Marriage 59:13 Division of the Sexes in Modern Culture 1:01:59 Intimacy in Marriage 1:07:39 Closing & Where to Find Lee ABOUT LEIGH Leigh Fitzpatrick Snead is a writer, speaker, and mother of four, and a Fellow with The Catholic Association. She co-hosts the nationally syndicated radio show Conversations with Consequences, and her writing has appeared in the National Catholic Register, the Washington Times, Newsweek, the Washington Examiner, Aleteia, and Theology of Home. She has spoken on marriage, family, adoption, and infertility at the University of Notre Dame's Vita Institute, the Napa Institute, the Edith Stein Project, and the Catholic Women's Forum. She lives in Indiana with her husband Carter of twenty-six years and their four sons. Infertile But Fruitful: Finding Fulfillment When You Can't Conceive draws on her own journey to offer encouragement, honesty, and practical wisdom to couples walking the same road, and to the family, friends, and clergy who walk alongside them. FIND LEIGH Book (Sophia Institute Press): https://sophiainstitute.com/product/infertile-but-fruitful/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leighsnead/ The Catholic Association: https://thecatholicassociation.org FIND LAURA Laura How is a relationship therapist specialising in sexless marriages and intimacy in long-term relationships. Website: https://laurahow.com The Love & Cherish Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and wherever you get your podcasts.

If you've noticed your sex life decline after having children, you're not alone. In this team episode we talk honestly about why intimacy after baby is one of the biggest threats to a marriage, what drives resentment between partners in the newborn phase, and what couples can actually do to reconnect sexually before distance becomes the default.👉 Book online sessions with Zac or Marijke: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ Having a baby is one of the most beautiful things a couple can do together, and one of the most threatening to their sexual bond. We explore why the arrival of children so often becomes the beginning of the end for intimacy, and what it actually takes to choose each other through it. 👉 Book a session with Zac: https://laurahow.com/therapists-zac-fine/ 👉 Book a session with Marijke: https://laurahow.com/therapists-marijke-roberts/ In this episode, we discuss: ✔️ Why new parenthood can become the beginning of the end for intimacy ✔️ The resentment trap — and why both partners fall into it ✔️ How porn fills the gap when men check out instead of leaning in ✔️ The "crucible" — why crisis is the perfect ingredient for transformation ✔️ Why reclaiming your sexuality after babies is an act of courage ✔️ How Russ made Laura his muse and what that looked like in practice ✔️ The danger of anti-marriage messaging and the friends who normalise it ✔️ Why a sexy, stable marriage is the greatest gift you can give your children ✔️ Maturity, choice, and why parenthood removes every excuse not to show up We record this monthly — we'd love to hear from you. 👉 Leave your questions in the comments for the next episode. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe for monthly conversations about: sexless marriages, intimacy after children, responsive desire, resentment and repair, and what it really takes to keep a marriage alive long-term. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need support? Work with me or one of the therapists on my team: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More ways to connect and grow: 💠 Therapists — Work with me: https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ 💠 Join my newsletter: https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ 💠 Support my work: https://laurahow.com/support/ 📲 Follow me: Instagram → / laurahow Facebook → / laurahowcounsellor Twitter (X) → / laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚️ Timestamps: ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags #SexlessMarriage #IntimacyAfterBaby #MarriageAdvice #CouplesTherapy #RelationshipAdvice #MarriageCounselling #IntimacyInMarriage #LauraHow #ParenthoodAndSex #LoveAndCherishPodcast

“Feminism has always been a force for good and equality.” Is that really the full story? In this conversation with philosopher and author Carrie Gress, we explore how feminist ideas have shaped modern relationships, and why many men and women are now questioning the narrative they were raised to believe. 👉 Book an online session: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ Carrie Gress, Catholic philosopher, author of The End of Woman and co-creator of Theology of Home, joins me for a direct and thoughtful discussion about the deeper impact of feminist ideology on marriage, family life, and how men and women now relate to each other. We talk about the growing divide between the sexes, the loss of trust, and the quiet confusion many people feel but struggle to name. From rising mental health concerns to the breakdown of shared meaning in relationships, this conversation looks at what’s changed, and what it’s costing us. We also explore ideas that are rarely spoken about openly, including the concept of “toxic femininity,” the devaluing of motherhood, and why conversations about men’s needs are often met with resistance. This is not about blaming one side. It’s about understanding what has gone wrong, and what needs to be rebuilt. In this episode: ✔️ Why many people are starting to question feminism’s impact on relationships ✔️ The growing mistrust between men and women ✔️ Mental health struggles in both sexes, and what’s driving them ✔️ Why “toxic femininity” is rarely discussed ✔️ The devaluing of motherhood and its wider consequences ✔️ Why talking about men’s needs creates backlash ✔️ The impact on children and future family life ✔️ How modern culture shapes how we see each other ✔️ Why restoring trust between men and women matters ✔️ What a more grounded, family-centred life could look like 👉 Find Carrie Gress: • Website: https://www.carriegress.com/ • Theology of Home: https://theologyofhome.com/ • Bio: https://www.carriegress.com/about 💬 Let me know in the comments: Do you think feminism has helped or harmed modern relationships? What are you seeing in your own life? ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe for conversations that challenge mainstream narratives about marriage, men, women, and what really creates lasting connection: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg?sub_confirmation=1 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need support? Work with me or a therapist on my team: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ One-Day Couples Intensive (crisis support): https://laurahow.com/1-day-couples-intensive/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More ways to connect & grow Therapists, work with me → https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ Join my newsletter → https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ Support my work → https://laurahow.com/support/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor X (Twitter) → https://twitter.com/laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚ Timestamps [Add after editing] ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags #Feminism #MarriageAdvice #MensIssues #CouplesTherapy #RelationshipAdvice #CarrieGress #MarriageCounselling #IntimacyInMarriage #LauraHow #TheologyOfHome #

"The Future is Female." But where does that leave our sons? In this conversation with George from The Tin Men, we examine the silent crisis facing men and boys, the institutional bias in our schools and courts, and why society seems to have lost its compassion for male suffering.👉 Book an online session: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ George, the creator behind The Tin Men, joins me for a critical look at how modern narratives are failing a generation of young men. From classrooms where boys are subjected to "misogyny training" and viewed as potential threats, to family courts that presume fathers are second-class parents, we explore how these systemic biases are destroying lives. We discuss the devastating data on male suicide, the widening education gap, and why standing up for boys has become a revolutionary act. In this episode: ✔️ The "War on Boys" in education: Why boys are falling behind ✔️ "Misogyny Training": How schools are teaching boys self-loathing ✔️ The "Violent Male" Myth and its impact on Family Court ✔️ Why society struggles to feel empathy for men ✔️ The link between relationship breakdown and male suicide ✔️ Institutional bias: Is the system rigged against fathers? ✔️ How to protect your sons from toxic narratives ✔️ Why "The Future is Female" is a dangerous slogan ✔️ The importance of male advocates like The Tin Men ✔️ How we can build a future that values both sexes 👉 Find The Tin Men: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetinmen/ Blog: https://thetinmen.blog/ 💬 Let me know in the comments: Do you think schools and society are biased against boys? What changes have you noticed? 🔔 Subscribe for conversations that challenge mainstream narratives about marriage, men, women, and what really creates lasting connection: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg?sub_confirmation=1 🧠 Need support? Work with me or a therapist on my team: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ One-Day Couples Intensive (crisis support): https://laurahow.com/1-day-couples-intensive/ 💎 More ways to connect & grow Therapists, work with me → https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ Join my newsletter → https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ Support my work → https://laurahow.com/support/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor X (Twitter) → https://twitter.com/laurahow ⌚ Timestamps 📌 Hashtags #TheTinMen #MensMentalHealth #WarOnBoys #FamilyCourt #Feminism #LauraHow #EducationGap #MensRights #FathersRights #Masculinity #SystemicBias #BoysCrisis

I'm joined by two therapists from my practice, Zac Fine and Marijke Roberts, for the second episode of our monthly series exploring how to restore sacred connection in long-term relationships.👉 Book online sessions with Zac or Marijke: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ When intimacy becomes mechanical or disappears entirely, couples lose more than just sex, they lose sacred space together. We discuss how to move beyond "getting the deed done" and rediscover intimacy as a profound, connected experience that honours both partners. 👉 Book a session with Zac: https://laurahow.com/therapists-zac-fine/ 👉 Book a session with Marijke: https://laurahow.com/therapists-marijke-roberts/ In this episode, we discuss: ✔️ Why sacred intimacy matters more than mechanical sex ✔️ Creating liminal space—ritual moments outside everyday life ✔️ Moving from "I want sex" to "I want connection with you" ✔️ Simple practices: eye contact, attuned breathing, mindful touch ✔️ The "Kings and Queens" exercise for asking and receiving ✔️ How porn culture has replaced sacred sexuality with performance ✔️ Responsive desire and why women often need different pathways to arousal ✔️ Attachment wounds that block intimacy and how to heal them ✔️ Turning conflict into curiosity when one partner withdraws ✔️ Why recovery is slow, human-paced work, not a quick fix We'll be recording this podcast monthly, and we'd love to hear from you. 👉 Leave your questions in the comments for the next episode. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe for monthly conversations about: Sacred intimacy, sexless marriages, creating connection, responsive desire, attachment healing, and rediscovering meaningful sex in long-term relationships. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need support? Work with me or one of the therapists on my team: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More ways to connect and grow: 💠 Therapists — Work with me: https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ 💠 Join my newsletter: https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ 💠 Support my work: https://laurahow.com/support/ 📲 Follow me: Instagram → / laurahow Facebook → / laurahowcounsellor Twitter (X) → / laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚️ Timestamps: 0:00 - Introduction: Welcome to Love and Cherish Podcast 0:23 - Why Men Want Enthusiastic Partners: The Deep Need to Feel Wanted 1:57 - Creating Sacred Spaces for Intimacy: Moving Beyond Mechanical Sex 6:22 - Practical Connection Exercises: Eye Contact, Breathing, and Touch 10:48 - Learning to Listen to Your Body Instead of External Advice 13:56 - Kings and Queens Exercise: Taking Turns Asking for What You Want 16:32 - Getting Curious About Resistance: Why Intimacy Feels Hard 19:29 - Personal Story: Understanding Shame and Childhood Wounds in Relationships 24:26 - Attachment Theory and Healing: Moving Toward Secure Relationships 26:05 - Closing Thoughts: Embracing the Slow Process of Growth ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags: #SacredIntimacy #SexlessMarriage #IntimacyInMarriage #MakingLove #ResponsiveDesire #LiminalSpace #AttachmentHealing #MarriageTherapy #LoveAndCherishPodcast #ConnectionOverSex #MindfulIntimacy

"Feminism has always been a force for good and equality." Is that really true? In this conversation with retired Professor Janice Fiamengo, we examine feminism's actual origins, its pervasive influence on modern relationships, and why so many men and women are waking up to a very different reality than what we've been told. 👉 Book an online session: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ Professor Janice Fiamengo, creator of The Fiamengo Files video series and author of Sons of Feminism, joins me for an unflinching look at how feminist ideology has shaped our attitudes toward men, marriage, and family life. From classrooms teaching children that men are the problem, to therapy rooms filled with women who've been taught to fear and distrust their husbands, we explore how these ideas have taken root and what the cost has been to both sexes. This conversation challenges the narrative that feminism's only critics are those who hate women or want to deny them opportunities. Instead, we examine the historical record, question why certain perspectives have been suppressed, and ask what happens to societies that tell men they don't matter. In this episode: ✔️ Why feminism was never really about equality (the historical evidence) ✔️ How anti-male messaging appears everywhere (schools, therapy, media) ✔️ The victim mentality and why it's so appealing (and so destructive) ✔️ What happens when women lose faith in men ✔️ The natural order of family life and why it matters ✔️ How to recognize feminist ideology in your own thinking ✔️ Why restoring faith between the sexes is essential ✔️ The good news: men don't actually want to harm women ✔️ What a life centered on family and gratitude actually looks like ✔️ Why psychological problems shouldn't be blamed on an entire sex 👉 Find Janice Fiamengo: • The Fiamengo Files (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/@StudioBrule • Substack: https://fiamengofile.substack.com/ • Book: Sons of Feminism: https://amzn.to/3Zf2DBZ 💬 Let me know in the comments: Has feminist ideology affected your view of men or marriage? What's your experience been? ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe for conversations that challenge mainstream narratives about marriage, men, women, and what really creates lasting connection: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg?sub_confirmation=1 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need support? Work with me or a therapist on my team: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ One-Day Couples Intensive (crisis support): https://laurahow.com/1-day-couples-intensive/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More ways to connect & grow Therapists, work with me → https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ Join my newsletter → https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ Support my work → https://laurahow.com/support/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor X (Twitter) → https://twitter.com/laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚ Timestamps ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags #Feminism #MarriageAdvice #MensIssues #CouplesTherapy #RelationshipAdvice #JaniceFiamengo #MarriageCounselling #IntimacyInMarriage #LauraHow #FiamengoFiles #TraditionalMarriage #FamilyLife

Michele Weiner-Davis joins me for a conversation about sexless marriages, desire differences, resentment, and how couples can rebuild intimacy after betrayal. 👉 Book an online session: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ Michele is a therapist and bestselling author known for her work with sexless marriages, infidelity recovery, and long-term relationship repair. We talk about why sex is never just sex for many people, how shutdown and withdrawal slowly erode closeness, and why so many couples wait too long to ask for help. This conversation offers practical, compassionate guidance for men and women who feel stuck, lonely, or unsure how to reconnect again. In this episode we explore: ✔ What “sex-starved marriage” really means ✔ Why long-term sexlessness damages connection and trust ✔ The silent expectations low-desire partners often hold ✔ When anger and withdrawal take over the relationship ✔ Why feelings cannot be the only guide in intimacy ✔ Responsive vs spontaneous desire, especially for women ✔ Why communication style matters more than frequency ✔ Ways to approach the conversation with more success ✔ How to support healing after infidelity ✔ Why hope is possible even after years of shutdown We would love to hear from you. 👉 Leave your questions in the comments for future episodes. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Michele Weiner-Davis Books Sex Starved Marriage → https://amzn.to/49xZiUA Healing from Infidelity → https://amzn.to/491pAi1 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Connect with Michele Weiner-Davis Website → https://www.divorcebusting.com/ TEDx Talk → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep2MAx95m20 YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@DivorceBusting1 Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/micheleweinerdavis ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need support? Work with me or a therapist on my team: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More ways to connect Therapists, work with me → https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ Join my newsletter → https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ Support my work → https://laurahow.com/support/ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor X (Twitter) → https://twitter.com/laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚ Timestamps 00:00 Introduction ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags #SexlessMarriage #InfidelityRecovery #MarriageCounselling #ResponsiveDesire #SexStarvedMarriage #RelationshipTherapy #IntimacyInMarriage #MarriagePodcast #AffairRecovery #MicheleWeinerDavis

I’m joined by two therapists from my practice, Zac Fine and Marijke Roberts. This informal conversation marks the start of a new monthly series where we speak openly about marriage, intimacy, sexlessness, consent, and the growing tension many couples feel between men and women. 👉 Book online sessions with Zac or Marijke: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ We talk honestly about what happens when sex disappears from a long-term relationship, why this causes deep distress for many people, and how fear, withdrawal, resentment, and cultural messaging pulls couples apart. 👉 Book a session with Zac: https://laurahow.com/therapists-zac-fine/ 👉 Book a session with Marijke: https://laurahow.com/therapists-marijke-roberts/ In this episode, we discuss: ✔️ Why long-term sexlessness is a serious relational issue ✔️ Consent, fear, and confusion around initiating sex in marriage ✔️ How power struggles and withdrawal develop over time ✔️ Why sex often means reassurance, grounding, and connection for men ✔️ Responsive desire, willingness, and curiosity in long-term intimacy ✔️ How couples can get stuck, and what helps them soften again ✔️ Why healing is possible, even when patterns run deep We’ll be recording this podcast monthly, and we’d love to hear from you. 👉 Leave your questions in the comments for the next episode. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations about: Sexless marriages, intimacy loss, emotional withdrawal, consent, attachment, and rebuilding connection in long-term relationships. 👉 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg?sub_confirmation=1 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need support? Work with me or one of the therapists on my team: https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More ways to connect and grow: 💠 Therapists — Work with me: https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ 💠 Join my newsletter: https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ 💠 Support my work: https://laurahow.com/support/ 📲 Follow me: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter (X) → https://twitter.com/laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚️ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags: #SexlessMarriage #MarriageTherapy #SexInMarriage #ConsentInRelationships #IntimacyInMarriage #GenderDivision #LongTermRelationships #marriagepodcast #AttachmentAndIntimacy #LoveAndCherishPodcast

Why do so many men struggle to engage with therapy, and why do so many who try it drop out feeling misunderstood or dismissed? In this podcast episode, I’m joined by Chris Hemmings, a therapist who works exclusively with men and the founder of Men’s Therapy Hub, a growing UK directory connecting men with male therapists. Together, we explore why men are a minority on both sides of the therapy room, why male distress is so often misread, and how the therapy profession itself may be failing the very men it claims to help. Chris draws on his background as a former BBC journalist, his clinical work with men, and his experience building Men’s Therapy Hub to talk honestly about masculinity, shame, emotional suppression, and the cultural messages that leave many men feeling like a problem rather than a person. In this episode, we discuss: ✔️ Why men are a minority in the therapy profession and among therapy clients ✔️ Why many men drop out of therapy early and feel misunderstood ✔️ How men are socialised differently, and why therapy often ignores this ✔️ Masculinity, shame, and emotional isolation ✔️ Why many men only seek help when they’re already on their knees ✔️ The limits of “just talking about feelings” for male wellbeing ✔️ Why action, accountability, and relationship matter in men’s therapy ✔️ How men can find therapists who actually respect and help them 💬 Join the conversation in the comments: What do you think stops men from seeking help sooner, and what would make therapy feel more accessible to men? ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ About My Guest: Chris Hemmings Chris Hemmings is a therapist and coach who specialises in working with men. He is the founder of Men’s Therapy Hub, a directory created to help men find male therapists who understand male psychology and lived experience. Before training as a therapist, Chris worked as a BBC journalist, producing documentaries on men, masculinity, and mental health. He is also the founder of M-Path, an organisation that works in schools across the UK, helping young people explore identity, masculinity, and emotional wellbeing. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎧 Listen to No Man’s an Island Podcast: Apple Podcasts → https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-mans-an-island/id1849171262 Spotify → https://open.spotify.com/show/5QgINHeUZKorBCE4LBoBXF?si=6122fd9650e04e7f ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Follow Men’s Therapy Hub: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/menstherapyhub/ LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/company/menstherapyhub/ YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@MensTherapyHub ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly videos and podcasts: Men’s mental health, intimacy, sexless marriages, emotional withdrawal, rebuilding trust, and relational repair. 👉 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg?sub_confirmation=1 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need support? Work with me or one of my team: 👉 https://laurahow.com/online-therapists/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More Ways to Connect & Grow: 💠 Therapists — Work with me: https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ 💠 Join my newsletter: https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ 💠 Support my work: https://laurahow.com/support/ 📲 Follow Me: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter (X) → https://twitter.com/laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚️ Timestamps: ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags: #MensMentalHealth #TherapyForMen #MaleLoneliness #Masculinity #MensTherapy #EmotionalHealth #MaleIdentity #MentalWellbeing #NoMansAnIsland #HealthyMasculinity #Psychotherapy #MensSupport

Join me live on Friday, December 5th at 11am EST (4pm GMT) for a candid Q&A with @drpsychmom (Dr Samantha Rodman Whiten). We’ll be answering your live questions about: Love, sex, marriage, mental health, intimacy, and anything else you want to ask us. ABOUT DR PSYCH MOM Dr Samantha Whiten is a clinical psychologist in private practice, author, podcaster, wife, and mother. Visit her group practice: https://bestlifebehavioralhealth.com Email: [email protected] 🎧 Podcast: The Dr Psych Mom Show Connect with her: Facebook: facebook.com/drpsychmom YouTube: youtube.com/@drpsychmom Instagram: instagram.com/dr.psychmom TikTok: tiktok.com/@therealdrpsychmom Threads: https://www.threads.net/@dr.psychmom Substack: https://drpsychmom1.substack.com Medium: medium.com/@drpsychmom X: https://x.com/DrPsychMom Writing: https://drpsychmom.com LAURA HOW: Book a session: https://laurahow.com/online-coaching 💌 Join my newsletter: https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup 🤝 Support my mission: https://laurahow.com/support Follow me: Instagram → instagram.com/laurahow Facebook → facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor X → x.com/laurahow YouTube → youtube.com/@LauraHow 🕓 Set a reminder now and join us live! Bring your questions, join the chat, and be part of a real conversation about sex, marriage, and mental health. #Livestream #RelationshipAdvice #Marriage #SexAndMarriage #MentalHealth #DrPsychMom #LauraHow

Relationship communication expert Dr Warren Farrell joins me, Laura How to discuss defensiveness, conflict, and how couples can rebuild intimacy through intentional practices. 👉 Book your session: https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ In this episode, I talk with renowned author and relationship expert Dr. Warren Farrell for an honest, heartfelt conversation about strengthening marriages, raising emotionally healthy children, and transforming “role mates” into “soul mates.” Drawing from Warren’s influential books, including “The Boy Crisis” and “Role Mate to Soulmate,” we explore practical strategies for overcoming defensiveness, building trust, and fostering deep connection in long-term relationships. Whether you’re looking to improve communication, navigate conflict, or create a nurturing family environment, this discussion is filled with actionable insights and personal stories to inspire lasting love and resilience. We cover: ✔️ Why defensiveness destroys intimacy ✔️ The Caring and Sharing Practice that restores safety ✔️ The Conflict-Free Zone that ends daily fights ✔️ How appreciation and play rekindle closeness ✔️ Why better communication prevents fatherlessness 💬 Question for You: Do you think most couples stop talking out of fear of conflict, or because they’ve forgotten how to listen? Share your thoughts in the comments below. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 👤 About Dr Warren Farrell: Dr Farrell has been named by the Financial Times as one of the world’s top 100 thought leaders. He’s the author of seven books translated into 19 languages, including the global bestsellers The Boy Crisis, The Myth of Male Power, and Role Mate to Soul Mate. He began in the women’s movement and became one of the leading voices for men, fathers, and healthy relationships worldwide. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📘 Buy Dr Warren Farrell’s new book — Role Mate to Soul Mate Amazon → https://amzn.to/4qH0snz ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌐 Connect with Dr Warren Farrell: Website → https://warrenfarrell.com YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@WarrenFarrell Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/drwarrenfarrell/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/DrWarrenFarrell X (Twitter) → https://twitter.com/drwarrenfarrell ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Watch Next: 👉 The Sexless Marriage Epidemic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L43J1JLrH-E ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly videos on: ✔️ Marriage & relationship struggles ✔️ Long-term intimacy & communication ✔️ Building emotional strength & clarity 👉 Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg?sub_confirmation=1 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need help rebuilding intimacy or connection? Book a 1-on-1 session: https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More Ways to Connect & Grow: 💠 Therapists — Work with me: https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ 💠 Subscribe to my newsletter: https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ 💠 Support my work: https://laurahow.com/support/ 📲 Follow Me: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter (X) → https://twitter.com/laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚️ Timestamps: 0:00 Intro ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags: #MarriageAdvice #Communication #WarrenFarrell #RoleMateToSoulMate #RelationshipHelp #Defensiveness #CouplesTherapy #HealthyRelationships #MarriageCounselling #MensMentalHealth #Fatherhood

Sexless Relationship Therapy Guide: How to Help Couples Restore Intimacy and Sexual Bond Sexless marriages are far more common than most couples realise, and the impact is deeper than many therapists are trained to address. In this episode, I break down why sex matters in long-term relationships, what’s driving the sharp rise in sexlessness, and how both therapists and couples can tackle it head-on. This discussion is grounded in research, clinical experience, and the lived reality of countless couples. If you’re a therapist, you’ll get a clear framework for addressing sexlessness in the therapy room. If you’re part of a couple, you’ll understand what’s really going on and what you can do to change it. I’ll cover: Why sexlessness is rising so fast, and why that matters The emotional, relational, and cultural fallout of avoiding sex The narratives fuelling disconnection between men and women Common therapeutic blind spots and how to address them A practical framework to restore intimacy Why sex isn’t “just a bonus”, it’s a core emotional need, like trust or respect Question for You: Do you think therapists and couples avoid talking honestly about sex? Share your thoughts — I’d love to hear your perspective. References & Further Reading: Full blog post with citations: https://laurahow.com/sexless-marriage Book a 1-to-1 session: https://laurahow.com/online-coaching Therapists — Work with me: https://laurahow.com/work-for-me More Ways to Connect & Grow: Join my newsletter Follow me on Instagram: @laurahow Facebook: Laura How Counsellor Twitter: @laurahow Chapters: 00:00 Introduction: The Sexless Marriage Crisis 00:41 Cultural Forces Driving Sexual Disconnection 02:03 The Power of Sexual Bonding 02:37 Why Sex Gets Ignored in Therapy 04:17 Statistics on Sexless Marriages 06:51 Trauma, Pain, and Safety Considerations 08:02 Is Sexlessness a Symptom or a Cause? 09:36 Key Questions to Assess the Sexual Dynamic 11:38 Willingness to Engage in Healing 12:41 Cultural Influences on Sex Between Men and Women 15:28 The Emotional Significance of Sex 18:00 Consequences of Sexual Neglect 19:51 Impact of Intimacy on Families and Children 20:53 Intentional Intimacy: Making Space for Connection 24:27 Barriers to Progress 27:45 Practical Strategies for Therapists Tags: #SexlessMarriage #MarriageTherapy #RelationshipHelp #IntimacyInMarriage #MarriageAdvice #MensMentalHealth #CouplesTherapy

**Sexless Relationship Therapy Guide:** How to Help Couples Restore Intimacy and Sexual Bond 👉 Book a 1-on-1 session: https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ Sexless marriages are far more common than most couples realise, and the impact is deeper than many therapists are trained to address. In this video, I break down why sex matters in long-term relationships, what’s driving the sharp rise in sexlessness, and how both therapists and couples can tackle it head-on. This video is grounded in research, clinical experience, and the lived reality of countless couples. If you’re a therapist, you’ll get a clear framework for addressing sexlessness in the therapy room. And if you’re part of a couple, you’ll understand what’s really going on and what you can do to change it. 📌 References & further reading: 👉 Full blog post with citations: https://laurahow.com/sexless-marriage-therapy-guide/ 👩‍⚕️ Therapists — Work with me: https://laurahow.com/work-for-me/ I’ll cover: ✔️ Why sexlessness is rising so fast, and why that matters ✔️ The emotional, relational, and cultural fallout of avoiding sex ✔️ The narratives fuelling disconnection between men and women ✔️ Common therapeutic blind spots and how to address them ✔️ A practical framework to restore intimacy ✔️ Why sex isn’t “just a bonus”, it’s a core emotional need, like trust or respect 💬 Question for You: Do you think therapists and couples avoid talking honestly about sex? Share your thoughts in the comments — I’d love to hear your perspective. 🔗 Watch Next: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L43J1JLrH-E ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly videos on: ✔️ Marriage & relationship struggles ✔️ Long-term intimacy & communication ✔️ Building emotional strength & clarity 👉 Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg?sub_confirmation=1 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need help rebuilding intimacy or reconnecting with your partner? Book a 1-on-1 session: https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More Ways to Connect & Grow: 💠 Join Channel Membership 💠 Subscribe to My Newsletter 💠 Support My Work 📲 Follow Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Chapter: 00:00 Introduction: The Sexless Marriage Crisis 00:41 Cultural Forces Driving Sexual Disconnection 02:03 The Power of Sexual Bonding 02:37 Why Sex Gets Ignored in Therapy 04:17 The Reality: Statistics on Sexless Marriages 06:51 Important Provisos: Trauma, Pain, and Safety 08:02 Is Sexlessness a Symptom or Cause: Determining the Root Issue 09:36 Key Questions to Assess the Sexual Dynamic 11:38 Willingness to Engage in Healing 12:41 Cultural Influences on sex between Men and Women 15:28 The Emotional Significance of Sex 18:00 Consequences of Sexual Neglect 19:51 Impact of Intimacy on Families and Children 20:53 Intentional Intimacy: Making Space for Sexual Connection 24:27 Barriers to Progress 27:45 Practical Strategies for Therapists 📌 Hashtags: #SexlessMarriage #MarriageTherapy #RelationshipHelp #IntimacyInMarriage #MarriageAdvice #MensMentalHealth #CouplesTherapy

In this candid episode, I talk with Ralph Brewer—author, YouTuber, and founder of @DadStartingOver and @RealHelpForMen—for an eye-opening and deeply personal conversation about marriage, attachment styles and the realities of sexless marriages. BOOK A SESSION ▶▶▶https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ 🔥 TOPICS WE COVER: • Ralph’s personal story of betrayal, divorce, and rebuilding • Why so many men feel alone and anxious in modern relationships • What really lies beneath the "dead bedroom" issue • The avoidant/anxious dynamic that keeps couples stuck • How unresolved childhood wounds shape our romantic choices • Tips for men on how to prevent (or repair) a sexless marriage • Why sex matters so much for emotional health and connection • The role of therapy, boundaries, and hard conversations in healing • The importance of modelling connection for our children 💡 Ralph’s Message to Men: Sex is the symptom, not the cause. If you want to heal your relationship, you have to start by healing yourself. That journey starts with awareness, connection, and accountability. 🎁 BONUS FOR LISTENERS: 👉 Visit help4men.com/love for free resources: • FREE Dead Bedroom Fix video course • FREE eBook: The Dead Bedroom Fix • Coaching discounts & access to Ralph’s private support group 📚 Ralph’s Book: The Dead Bedroom Fix - https://amzn.to/44T9B3p 💻 Ralph’s Platforms: DadStartingOver.com | Help4Men.com Whether you’re fighting for your marriage or just trying to feel like yourself again, this is a space for real talk, real growth, and real love. 💬 Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE, and SHARE if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps us reach more people who need honest, heart-centered conversations about love, intimacy, and healing. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Watch Next: 👉 The Sexless Marriage Anger Trap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN-9ra4AATs ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly videos on: ✔️ Marriage & relationship struggles ✔️ Long-term intimacy & communication ✔️ Building emotional strength & clarity Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg?sub_confirmation=1 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🧠 Need help processing your emotions or reconnecting with your partner? Book a 1-on-1 session: https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 💎 More Ways to Connect & Grow: 💠 Join Channel Membership: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg/join 💠 Subscribe to My Newsletter: https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ 💠 Support My Work: https://laurahow.com/support/ 📲 Follow Me: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurahow ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ⌚️ Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro & Tech Issues 05:25 - Fatherhood & Modelling Love 21:07 - Childhood Trauma 27:32 - Fixing the Relationship 36:45 - The Dead Bedroom Fix 36:57 - Sex & Emotional Connection 46:08 - Ultimatums & Tough Decisions ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 📌 Hashtags: #SexlessMarriage #MarriageHelp #MensMentalHealth

We discuss emotional needs vs. sexual needs, why couples who have regular sex raise happy children, the lack of education about physical intimacy in marriage and why relationship counsellors aren’t addressing marital sex as a priority in therapy. BOOK A SESSION ▶▶▶https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ Dr Samantha Whiten is a clinical psychologist in private practice, author, podcaster, wife and mother. Visit her group practice at BestLifebehavioralhealth.com and reach out to her at [email protected] Listen to her podcast The Dr Psych Mom Show here: https://open.spotify.com/show/2oUpweoWrPUke8QHLlafue?si=rhyke0U1TwSZwB0NgaIWNw Facebook: Https://www.Facebook.com/drpsychmom YouTube: https://youtube.com/@drpsychmom Instagram: Https://www.Instagram.com/Dr.psychmom TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therealdrpsychmom Threads: https://www.threads.net/@dr.psychmom Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/drpsychmom1 Medium: https://medium.com/@DrPsychMom X: https://x.com/DrPsychMom Writing: drpsychmom.com Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B014MRIMKG ▼▼▼CHANNEL MEMBER PERKS▼▼▼ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg/join ▼▼▼NEWSLETTER SIGNUP▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ ▼▼▼SUPPORT MY MISSION▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/support/ ▼FOLLOW ME▼ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter → https://twitter.com/laurahow ▼ ⌚️Timestamps ▼ ──────────── 0:00 – 1:52 – Intro 1:52 – 8:47 - Why Sex is Important in Marriage 8:47 – 15:09 - Treating Each Other With Kindness 15:09 – 18:00 - Emotional Needs vs Sexual Needs 18:00 – 24:35 - Is Sex a Need? 24:35 – 27:13 - Marriage Counsellors Ignore Sex 27:13 – 30:15 - Menstrual Cycle 30:15 – 35:44 - Why are Sexless Marriages so Common? 35:44 – 46:06 - Selfishness in Marriages 46:06 – 48:17 - Advice for People in Sexless Marriages 48:17 – 50:50 Outro ──────────── #marriage #couplestherapy #intimacy

How has culture & marriage changed? What does a moral marriage look like? When should you leave a sexless or otherwise immoral marriage? How can men and women live in harmony? BOOK A SESSION ▶▶▶https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ Renowned Marriage Therapist, Rick McCarthy, shares his wisdom from almost 5 decades of experience as a marriage therapist and 28 years as a psychology professor. In his new book “Restoring Marriage and Families: A Guide and Tools “In Order to Form a More Perfect Union” Rick McCarthy provides a compelling roadmap to reclaiming the vital institution of marriage and the nuclear family—the bedrock of every successful civilization in history. He explains how modern society has undermined these pillars and offers a practical plan to reverse this destructive trend, fostering hope and renewal for marriages, families, and communities. Grab you copy here: https://amzn.to/45A4wxO Rick’s Website: https://www.rickmccarthymft.com/ ▼▼▼CHANNEL MEMBER PERKS▼▼▼ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg/join ▼▼▼NEWSLETTER SIGNUP▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ ▼▼▼SUPPORT MY MISSION▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/support/ ▼FOLLOW ME▼ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter → https://twitter.com/laurahow ▼ ⌚️Timestamps ▼ ──────────── 0:00 – 1:28 – Intro 1:28 – 7:45 - How Culture Has Changed 7:45 – 14:52 - Marriage Therapy as Crisis Management 14:52 – 24:08 – Where Marriages are Goin Wrong 24:08 – 34:41 - Handling a Sexless Marriage and When to Leave 34:41 – 42:03 – How Women Have Changed 42:03 – 46:22 - Women Need to Admire Men 46:22 – 50:11 – Restoring Values & Responsibility 50:11 – 1:03:46 - The Rise of Porn 1:03:46 – 1:07:24 – Maintaining Personal Integrity 1:07:24 – 1:08:34 - Outro ──────────── #marriage #relationships #therapy

Dr Robert Glover discusses the root cause of ‘Nice Guy Syndrome’, co-dependency, fear of confrontation with women, self-growth in relationships, self-soothing, sexless marriages & advice for wives of ‘Nice Guys’. CHANNEL MEMBER PERKS ▶▶▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg/join Dr. Robert Glover has over 40 years of professional experience as a relationship therapist and men’s coach. He specializes in helping men build community and level up to the best version of themselves. He has authored four books, including the bestselling No More Mr. Nice Guy. He founded Integration Nation, an international community for men in 2023. Websites: https://drglover.com https://integrationnation.net/landing-page Dr Glover on Social Media: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@drgloverofficial Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drgloverofficial *********************************** ▼▼▼BOOK A SESSION▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ ▼▼▼NEWSLETTER SIGNUP▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ ▼▼▼SUPPORT MY MISSION▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/support/ ▼FOLLOW ME▼ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter → https://twitter.com/laurahow ▼ ⌚️Timestamps ▼ ──────────── 0:00 – 3:38 – Introduction 3:38 – 10:31 – What is a ‘Nice Guy’? 10:31 – 17:45 - The Origins Nice Guy Syndrome 17:45 – 19:51 - Faulty Roadmaps 19:52 – 22:43 - Co-dependency 22:43 – 27:55 - Differentiation 27:55 – 30:58 - Soft Men & ‘Simps’ 30:58 – 32:57 - “Don’t Piss Off The Women” 32:57 – 36:24 - Female Readers 36:24 – 42:49 - Relationships as Growth Machines 42:49 – 57:36 - Self-Soothing 57:36 – 1:06:23 - Sexless Marriages 1:06:23 – 1:98:13 – Dealing with Haters 1:09:13 – 1:15:02 - Advice for Wives of Nice Guys 1:15:02 – 1:17:15 - Outro ──────────── #niceguys #relationships #menshealth

Bettina Arndt promotes gender equity through advocacy for men and challenging anti-male feminist propaganda. She tours university campuses challenging illegal kangaroo courts adjudicating abuse. Here, we discuss sex starved marriages and misandry in society. BECOME A CHANNEL MEMBER ▶▶▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg/join On today’s podcast, Bettina & I discuss: • Sexless Marriages • Feminism • Female Expectations in Relationships • Sexual Generosity in Marriage • The Weaponisation of The Family Court System You can find @bettinaarndtaus at: Substack → https://bettinaarndt.substack.com/ Website → https://www.bettinaarndt.com.au Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/thebettinaarndt YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@bettinaarndtaus/videos Join the fight against false accusations: Mothers of Sons is a group of ordinary women whose sons have faced extraordinary ordeals in our unjust, anti-male legal systems and workplaces: https://mothersofsons.info/ ▼▼▼BOOK A SESSION▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ ▼▼▼NEWSLETTER SIGNUP▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ ▼▼▼SUPPORT MY MISSION▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/support/ ▼FOLLOW ME▼ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter → https://twitter.com/laurahow ▼ ⌚️Timestamps ▼ ──────────── 0:00 – 1:57 – Introduction 1:57 – 3:32 - The Sex Diaries 3:32 – 7:26 - Why Are Men Treated So Badly? 7:26 – 10:11 – Is Feminism The Cause of Sexless Marriages? 10:11 – 15:19 - Women’s Unrealistic Expectations 15:19 – 20:28 - Rejected Men vs Women in Sexless Marriages 20:28 – 26:29 - Sexual Generosity ‘Just do It!’ 26:29 – 30:38 - The Weaponisation of Family Courts 30:38 – 36:49 - Fighting Back 36:47 – 38:34 - Where to Find Bettina ──────────── #marriage #menshealth #genderequality

My first podcast guess is George 'TheTinmen' who advocates for the less than popular side of gender equality; boy's and men's issues. He has a remarkable ability to present uncomfortable facts and ugly truths about the challenges' our boy's and men are facing in society. BECOME A CHANNEL MEMBER ▶▶▶ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_Fs1wPifrghIGdSzsbrKg/join Our recording platform decided to fail completely, just 30 minutes before our interview, so we made the decision to improvise rather than risk losing the opportunity to talk to George entirely. I hope you can tolerate the dial up 90’s video quality (should be ok on a phone), because what follows is a wonderful conversation with George about how our are men are doing, what we might do to address the terrible truths about our school system, male loneliness, suicide and the fact that no-one really wants to talk about any of these important issues. You can find @TheTinMenBlog at: Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/thetinmen/ Reddit → https://www.reddit.com/user/TheTinMenBlog/ YouTube → https://www.youtube.com/@TheTinMenBlog Support George’s heroic work here: https://www.patreon.com/thetinmen Here is the charity “Two Pints Deep” which George mentioned if you would like to support them: https://www.twopintsdeep.com/ ▼▼▼BOOK A SESSION▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/online-coaching-sessions/ ▼▼▼NEWSLETTER SIGNUP▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ ▼▼▼SUPPORT MY MISSION▼▼▼ https://laurahow.com/support/ ▼FOLLOW ME▼ Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/laurahow/ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/laurahowcounsellor Twitter → https://twitter.com/laurahow ▼ ⌚️Timestamps ▼ ──────────── 0:00 – 1:15 – Introduction 1:15 – 8:06 – Why Do This? 8:06 – 11:08 - Why Don’t We Care About Men? 11:08 – 15:51 - Male Victims of Abuse 15:51 – 21:16 - Women Can Be ‘Bad’ Too 21:16 – 26:58 - Male Suicide & Public Awareness 26-58 - 34:45 - Lack of Support for Men & Boys 34:45 – 40:31 - Societal Disregard for Men 40:31 – 46:25 - How Can We Help Men? 46:25 – 55:35 - Can We Ask Women to Help? 56:35 – 58:18 - Outro ──────────── #thetinmen #menshealth #genderequality

If you want your husband to function well, then sex needs to be regular and enjoyable feature of your marriage. If you have committed to loving your spouse, then do it well!

Why do so many women stop wanting sex with their husbands after marriage or children? And what can you do, as a couple to rescue your sex life? This in-depth guide is for men & women. If you want your marriage to thrive and to be filled with pleasure, contentment and satisfaction, then you simply cannot give up on sex. Choosing to have no or little to no sex in marriage is like taking a wrecking ball to the whole enterprise. If my own story had not convinced me of that, then the countless couples I meet who aren’t having sex certainly would have. There is a solution. It doesn’t have to be this way. There are plenty of things both spouses can do to understand what’s going on and work together to resolve the situation. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been together or how long this has been a problem in your marriage; the solution is the same.

In a sex positive marriage, both partners experience greater feelings of intimacy and aliveness. These marriages are filled with more joy, connection, excitement and laughter than their sexually dull counter parts. Developing and maintaining a sex positive attitude is important for the quality of not only our marriages, but also every other aspect of our health as human beings. To develop this sexual positivity, some of us will need to embark on a journey if we haven't yet done so. Perhaps a journey of healing, increased awareness, of analysis, and of self-acceptance. We might have to ask ourselves why we feel so negatively about this aspect of our nature. We might have to address our own hang-ups or deal with past negative sexual experiences. We might have to consider what the people around us taught us to think about sex. We might also have to question the cultural narrative around what sex in marriage really looks like and have the courage to create something entirely different for ourselves.

If your husband tells you that sex is important to him, then in my view sex simply isn’t optional in your marriage if you want him to feel loved. We expect our husbands to meet our emotional needs, so we need to meet theirs. Surely real love means caring about the general well-being of our partners and giving them what they actually need, rather than what we feel like giving? If our husbands say they need sex to feel fulfilled, then they need sex to feel fulfilled. End of story. We can't just decide they're mistaken and reject what they're telling us, that would be unfair. If you had a dog that needed walking daily, you wouldn’t refuse to walk it because you didn’t feel like it and then wonder why it’s pacing the walls and chewing up your furniture. The dog needs exercise or it will go mad. There’s nothing wrong with the dog. If you are married to a good man who takes good care of you, and he tells you that sex is important to him, then in my view sex simply isn’t optional if you want him to feel loved. If we expect our husbands to be generous in meeting our emotional needs, then we need to be generous in meeting theirs.

If your marriage is unfulfilling and your husband or wife is refusing to engage in a healthy way, then you need to take responsibility for its recovery and lead by example. If our marriages have been unhappy for some time, it’s likely that many of the things we already tried did not work, and it’s probably time that we try something new. As the old saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It will become increasingly difficult for a lazy or mean-spirited spouse to dictate the terms of your marriage if you are physically, emotionally and spiritually fit. If you are consistently meeting their needs and they continue to dismiss yours, then I would argue you have a martial obligation to protest. In a healthy marriage each spouse keeps the other on their toes. You’re meant to inspire and support each other to grow and develop as individuals so that your union becomes a force stronger than the sum of its parts. You’re meant to be a team.

A relationship contract is a written agreement in which you both have an opportunity to define boundaries, hopes, expectations and a shared vision for the future of your relationship. BOOK A SESSION ▶▶▶ https://laurahow.com/online-counselling/ Is your relationship on the right track? Is your it where you hoped it would be when you first started dating? Is the division of labour in your household fair? Is your spending under control? Are you able to discuss your needs with each other and feel heard when you do? Are you treating each other with love and respect on a daily basis, or have you slipped into resentment and apathy? Do you each commit to making meaningful changes where necessary? If you answered no to any of these questions, then you might find a relationship contract could help you make a fresh start as a couple.

The socially acceptable addiction to news, entertainment and social media is contributing to the deterioration of our mental health, creativity, physical well-being and relational intimacy. BOOK A SESSION ▶▶▶ https://laurahow.com/online-counselling/ Putting our screens down isn’t going to be easy, they are obviously hugely addictive to us. But, if they’re a problem for you currently, you can make some simple steps in the right direction today. -Put your phone in the glove box when you arrive at the restaurant. -Leave it at home when you go for a walk. -Enforce a ‘no phones at the table’ or/and ‘no phones in the bedroom’ rule at home. -Turn off notifications. -Set App Time Limits. -Turn your phone off at the same time everyday and leave it off. -Notice when you unconsciously reach for your device and make a decision to leave it where it is. Use screens the way a moderate drinker might choose to use alcohol. Mindfully, in moderation and with an awareness that too much is bad for your health.

Maintenance sex is the concept of having sex with a partner who you love, in order to strengthen the relationship and improve intimacy – even when you might not be in the mood for it yourself. It is something you are willing to do for the health of the relationship, to feel connected with and to care for your partner and it is a mutual decision made by both of you. It is an effective and hopefully temporary strategy for a couple to manage discrepancies in sexual desire which are perfectly natural and normal. It is a way to prioritise your partner and the relationship. It facilitates bonding, fosters intimacy and encourages open conversation. It should be enjoyable for both partners.

The key to solving conflict problems in marriage lies in our capacity as a husband or wife to address them as a team. This requires commitment to truth and open communication. In a healthy marriage, each partner understands that the relationship needs to be discussed, and each person feels safe to bring their concerns to the other. In a healthy marriage no topic is off limits. Whether it’s time together, money, division of labour, sex or anything else; every area of your shared life should always be open for discussion. You both must be able to ask for what you need, listen with interest to what your partner needs and have tough conversations about difficult issues as often as needed. It doesn’t matter if it’s you that’s conflict avoidant or if it’s your partner. If your marriage falls short of these simple benchmarks, then YOU have work to do. BOOK A SESSION ▶▶▶ https://laurahow.com/online-counselling/

I would say that libido is one of the key indicators of general female health and quality of life. If you are a woman and your sex drive is low and you want it to improve, then this video is for you. SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER ▶▶▶ https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ Remember, your feminine libido is YOURS and it’s a beautiful and unique part of what makes you the woman you are. If it’s low or lost, then a part of you is low or lost and that’s not something to just accept if you truly want to live a full and rich life. It’s a feeling of aliveness and presence and it’s yearning for connection. It’s reaching out in life and pulling the right things towards you. It’s an openness and willingness to experience pleasure and it’s the motivation to give it back. It’s your mojo ladies, and sometimes you must make yourself a priority and do some work if you want to keep that side of yourself alive and kicking. Life with a health libido is better than a life without it. So, get to work ladies, you are worth the effort.

If you’re stuck in an unhappy marriage with a spouse that doesn’t appear to care about you, and for whatever reason, you can’t or won’t leave then as far as I can see, you have two choices. SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER ▶▶▶ https://laurahow.com/newsletter-signup/ We are supposed to give our partners the best of ourselves, not the worst. Exceptional relationships are created by individuals that are radiating health and wellbeing. If your partner is dysfunctional in some way, then they are damaging to you and to your family if you have children. Addressing such issues successfully is part of a healthy marriage.

Needing closeness with your partner and wanting them to meet reasonable emotional needs for you is not weakness or co-dependency, it’s attachment and it’s our shared nature. When our needs are consistently met by our partners, we feel secure, and our bonds grow stronger. Our nervous systems regulate, we're less stressed, and we experience better physical health and all-round wellbeing. On the other hand, when our needs are not met, our sense of security is damaged, we feel isolated, disconnected and anxious and our health will deteriorate if this is goes on. In case you're not quite sure what needs are reasonable, then here's a list of examples: Trust Commitment Affection Appreciation Empathy Friendship Satisfying Sex Compromise Respect Quality Time Kindness Generosity If any of those things are missing from your relationship then you have a right to ask for them.

Withholding is an expression of conditional love, whereby the withholder refuses to provide their partner with an emotional or physical need unless certain conditions are met. Withholding examples: • Stonewalling or ‘The Silent Treatment.’ • Withholding sex or physical affection. • Refusing offers of physical affection. • Failing to celebrate your partners achievements. • Avoiding deep or meaningful conversations. • Withholding verbal expressions of love or affection. • Refusing to comfort your partner in times of need. If you recognise any of these behaviours in yourself, or in your partner then this podcast is for you.

When a husband emotionally checks out of a marriage, it doesn’t take too long for it to unravel entirely or for it to become at best, platonic, bland, and functional. So why do so many good men emotionally detach from their wives? Is it due to a lack of care for their wives, or have they withdrawn over time because THEY don’t feel cared for? To help you work this out for your specific situation, I’ve put together a list of three common reasons husbands withdraw from their wives and what you, the wife, might be able to do to invite him to want to be closer and more present with you.

Why exactly do so many women stop having sex with their husbands? Is it due to a lack of care for their men, or is it because they have withdrawn over time because THEY don’t feel cared for? To help you work this out for your specific situation, I’ve put together a list of common reasons wives stop wanting to have sex with their husbands. The more you can eliminate from this list the better, but one or more might apply to you. I encourage you to address them consistently over the coming months and see how your love life changes.

Listening to your partners complaints about you isn’t always easy and can be quite stressful, so in this video I’m going to share some strategies that will help you deal with these interactions in a more healthy and constructive way.

This week I’m going to share with you 5 ways you could add more fulfilment to your life.

If you want to reduce anxiety and depression so that you can live to your fullest potential, you might need to consider clearing away the things that are holding you back. Good mental health is not achieved by magic. It comes as a result of good choices and good habits worked at over long periods of time. It is difficult to live badly and feel well. Here are five ways you can reduce anxiety and depression immediately.

Are YOU a good partner? A good husband? A good wife? There seems to be a lot of talk about bad partners, but not so much about how to become GOOD or BETTER partners. I suspect, however, that if we thought more about whether WE are in fact good partners, our relationships would improve significantly. Set a positive example in YOUR relationship! Here is a list of 12 qualities a good partner or spouse should have. If all of these apply to you then congratulations, you are a good partner! If not, try to improve in a few areas for a month and watch how your relationship improves.

Building a life based in truthfulness, and the integrity that accompanies it, ensures we are building a life that is meaningful and healthy. It is the route to true self-esteem, self-respect, peace of mind, and confidence. Telling the truth is essential to maintain good mental health and authentic relationships.

Relationships, like cars, require regular maintenance in order to keep running smoothly and to avoid breakdowns. We must commit to addressing problems as they arise. This is in fact part of good relationship maintenance. If our partner starts making a noise, or we do for that matter, usually in the form of some kind of unhappiness or dissatisfaction, we must take it seriously. We must be interested in what they or we are experiencing. We must set aside time to address the issue and commit to finding a solution. Today, I discuss 5 ideas to help you avoid relationship breakdown. #relationships #relationshipadvice #counselling

Relationships do not maintain themselves. Day-to-day work in committed relationships is vital for their survival. I am convinced it is this consistent effort that ensures couples stand a chance of creating a relationship that is more healthy, more stable, more enjoyable, and more satisfying. It is this steady care and attention, that serves to protect relationships from running into serious and potentially insurmountable trouble later on. In fact, it is this commitment to effort that is the very nature of real and enduring love. Today, I discuss 5 Habits that will help make your relationship last. #relationships #sex #therapy

Self-regulation is a facet of emotional intelligence. It is the ability to engage control over our own thoughts, emotions, and impulses. It is at the heart of healthy and mature relationships.  If our relationships are to survive, we need to develop a capacity to pause when we are faced with a difficult thought or feeling. Take some time to consider it before we act, so that we can decide what might be the best way forward. 1. Tune in to the moment. Pay attention to what is going on inside you. Are you thinking negative thoughts? Is there tension in your body? Notice such things without judgement. Practice mindful breathing as this will help you gain some space around the thoughts or feelings. 2. Practice cognitive reframing. This involves changing thought patterns which threaten to create bad feelings towards a more positive emotional outcome. 3. Start to increase your awareness and understanding that in every moment you have a choice in how you think, feel and therefore behave. It might feel as though this is not true, but it is. The more we show up and take responsibility for what we are bringing to the moment, the more empowered we are to act in healthy ways.

When it comes to building strength, a major turning point occurred for me when I understood in no uncertain terms, that I was responsible for the quality and outcome of my life no matter what I had encountered as a child. Part of this involved being able to clearly, and honestly identify personal weaknesses, so that I could work out how to overcome them and grow in strength, and as a person.

What is your relationship with yourself like? I ask many clients this question as it often occurs to me early on in our working relationship that people don’t appear to know themselves very well at all. The knowing of oneself is an essential aspect of the feeling of wholeness and a necessary component of authenticity. These feelings are worth striving for. They are a worthwhile goal and something meaningful to aim at. They are something of an ideal, as they protect us against such feelings as anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. Do the work. If you are young, middle aged or old. It is never too soon, and it is never too late.

It seems to me; most people nowadays think that happy couples are somehow lucky. That they perhaps managed to find ‘the one’ and that the seemingly blissful union they share is a result of good fortune. Most people have it wrong. It is truer to say that often, those of us who would describe ourselves as fulfilled and secure in our unions, have in fact worked hard at creating such harmony and strength as a couple over time. One of the most beautiful and essential elements to this focussed dedication, is the creation of a mainly positive atmosphere or landscape, which flows from both parties towards the other and for their relationship. For their past, for their present, and for their future. They have a co-created love affair with their love affair! They think and say kind and complimentary things about each other. Their memories are fond despite the challenges they have faced, and they are equally hopeful about their shared life ahead. This kind of couple touch us all. In old age, they are the couples with a bright glint in their eyes, and beautiful stories to tell. Their physical youth may have faded but their love for one another remains clear and strong. A beacon of grace, dignity, wisdom, and sanity.

In my work with couples, it is common to see each person attributing the cause of their unhappiness to their partner. One partner will insist they would be happy if only the other would just sort themselves out and become a better person. Part of my work involves helping the couple to consider what they each might be bringing to the relationship that is causing harm. He might need to honestly acknowledge his tendency to avoid conflict and withdraw when things get uncomfortable. He might benefit from considering that this could be because he was brought up by a family that never talked about feelings. She might need to learn not to criticise or sulk when she feels uncared for and to recognise that some of these feelings might have been caused by her relationship with her father who was often unavailable. Ultimately, we need to develop positive feelings towards our partners, which is difficult if our complaints about them are not balanced by some real awareness of our own shortcomings.