Brita knew. But she didn’t. She woke up most days with a heaviness in her chest. A sense of unease, guilt, and hopelessness. How long had she had this feeling? Years. She was caught in the trap of staying too long in a bad relationship. Perry was exhausted all the time. He worried that his [read more]
Expert Dating and Relationship Advice from Coach Betty Russell, BCC
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The Pleasure of Your Company: Get Your Groove Back
“She entered her house and turned back to me for one last kiss, and to say, ‘I can’t imagine a better way to spend a Sunday than with you. Thank you for today.’” That’s the way my client, Nathaniel, ended his “perfect day” narrative. His story, written as “homework” between one of our sessions and [read more]
Finding the Right Person—Four Truths
You’re not 20 anymore. You are long out of college and maybe long out of your last serious relationship. Unattached people are not milling about in every building you enter, and when you stand at the check-out line, the people within a decade of your age all have wedding rings, babies, or both. But do [read more]
Red Flags: When a First Date Is a Last Date
Yay! You’ve made a connection on Match, Our Time, Bumble, or eHarmony. You are ready to meet. So much of that first date is going to be about the “indefinable” – the stuff you can’t really put into words. But believe me, there are some very good words to describe a terrific first date, from [read more]
Over-giving? Try Being Self-Centered Instead
It feels good to make someone else feel good, doesn’t it? But sometimes people can invest so much in pleasing others that they leave themselves in the dust. First, let’s look at some ways people-pleasing hurts everyone. Amy is in a destructive relationship with William and can’t figure out why she stays. William is entirely [read more]
Betty’s Practical Guide to Moving in Together
I have moving on-the-brain this week (since I’m moving into a new house myself) so wanted to write about the practical issues around moving in with your partner. For insights about how to arrive at this important decision (or not), and an overview of some of the issues involved, you can revisit some of my [read more]
Be the Sapiosexual You Want to See in the World—Smart is Sexy!
This week’s blog is from guest blogger, Vanessa Park, a brilliant writer and editor with her own business, VKP Editing. She has clients all over the country for whom she ghost writes, edits, and consults. Vanessa also writes her own personal blog, Spiralwoman.com. Sapiosexual. If you know what that means, I’d probably like you. If you consider [read more]
How to Find the Silver Lining When a Relationship Does Not Go as Planned
It’s a cliché, for sure, the old saying about how every cloud has a silver lining. But often clichés are truths that have simply been spoken by many wise people for many years. This year, we want to take that ol’ dud-relationship cloud and turn it inside out so the lining will be visible in [read more]