Category: Proactive

• What Men Say Motivates in Marriage And WW Linkup!

  

  I’m back from Christmas vacation and I have to tell you, it’s been hard to get back into the swing of blogging again. Not that I don’t enjoy it, but currently I feel a bit burned out by it all, since my life at the moment has less margin than I would like for it…

  BethSteffaniak

  January 5, 2016

  About Me, Accountability, Choices, Counseling, Encouragement, Marriage, Men and Openness Series, Openness, Perspective, Positive Focus, Proactive, Self-awareness, Support, Wedded Wednesday

  Accountability, Counseling, Interventions, Marriage Books, Openness, Proactive, Small Groups, Support

• Feel like a Victim in Marriage?

  

  I’m back from a much-needed vacation to continue the series on how our spouses can control us. Today’s focus is about feeling like a victim in a hopeless marriage. Sometimes people who are in a hurtful marriage for a very long time and have tried to combat the issues for as long as they’ve been…

  BethSteffaniak

  January 2, 2016

  About Me, Alienation, Attitude, Blaming, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Codependency, Control, Discouragement, Expectations, Faith in God, False Beliefs, Forgiveness, Love of God, Marriage, Negative Self-Talk, Perseverance, Positive Focus, Prayer, Pride, Proactive, Realistic Expectations, Respect, Responsibility, Safety, Victim Mentality

  Change, God’s Love, Learned Helplessness, Proactive, Responsibility, Safe People, Victim Mentality

• Healthy Boundaries and Expectations for a Heart-to-Heart And Linkup!

  

  Today I’m continuing in the series that was born out of the results from my Men and Openness survey by unpacking a bit more what a wife (or any spouse for that matter) needs to keep in mind in a heart-to-heart. [Tweet “If you want to encourage openness, establish healthy boundaries and realistic expectations.”] Since…

  BethSteffaniak

  December 15, 2015

  Acceptance, Authenticity, Boundaries, Change, Codependency, Comfort, Communication, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Control, Emotions, Expectations, Listening Skills, Marriage, Perseverance, Proactive, Realistic Expectations, Respect, Responsibility, Validation, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday

  Active Listening, Boundaries, Communication, Emotions, Perseverance, Realistic Expectations, Reflective Listening, Respect

• 3 Steps to Avoid a Parenting Power Struggle

  

  It’s easy to think that when your spouse does something that bugs you and you react, that you are making a conscious choice born out of your freewill to resist. But more times than not, you are allowing yourself to be controlled by your spouse’s actions or words. Today I want to continue the series…

  BethSteffaniak

  December 12, 2015

  Acceptance, Alienation, Anger, Apologies, Attitude, Authenticity, Balance, Blaming, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Codependency, Communication, Confessional Culture, Conflict, Control, Discouragement, Enabling, False Beliefs, Forgiveness, Messy Mom’s and Dad’s, Motherhood, Negotiation, Parenthood, Proactive, Responsibility, Self-awareness, Toxic Baggage, Victim Mentality, Vulnerability, Wounds

  Apologizing, Baggage, Codependency, Confession, Negotiating, Parenting, Power Struggles, Responsibility, Wounds

• A Wife’s Perspective on Men and Openness And WW Linkup!

  

  In a couple of weeks I will be diving into a series on “Men and Openness” that’s based upon a survey that I’ve been conducting for several months now. But today I want to approach this sticky subject from my own feminine and often skewed (probably due to Estrogen) perspective. 😉 [Tweet “My husband and…

  BethSteffaniak

  October 20, 2015

  About Me, Acceptance, Authenticity, Avoidance, Bonding, Change, Choices, Comfort, Communication, Conflict, Control, Differences, Emotions, Encouragement, Expectations, False Beliefs, Fear, Gender Differences, Intimacy, Men and Openness Series, Negative Self-Talk, Negotiation, Perspective, Priorities, Proactive, Realistic Expectations, Self-Protection, Togetherness, Truth, Validation, Vulnerability, Wedded Wednesday

  Barriers, Communication, Conflict, Conversation Skills, Emotions, False Beliefs, Gender Differences, Openness, Vulnerability

• Can I point out your flaws? SJT Video

  

  Today I’m back with another “Sloppy Joe Time” that addresses our tendency as faulty and defensive human beings to point the finger at our spouse’s flaws and “specks” rather than going on a “Plank Hunt” in our own lives. I’ve been there and done that and am here to say there’s a better way to…

  BethSteffaniak

  September 27, 2015

  Attitude, Authenticity, Blaming, Boundaries, Change, Choices, Christ-Centered, Comfort, Confessional Culture, Criticism, Encouragement, Expectations, Got Truth?, Pain, Plank Hunt Series, Proactive, Responsibility, Self-Reflection, Sloppy Joe Time Video, Spiritual Growth, Spiritual Practices, Surrender, Truth, Video, Vulnerability

  Blaming, God’s Truth, Pain, Proactive, Responsibility, Self-examination

• 5 Tips for Finding a Good Counselor

  

  Recently I wrote a post about the unfortunate reality that counseling does not always work or improve a couple’s marriage. I believe there are reasons for this failure and I talk about them at – 7 Reasons Marriage Counseling May Fail. But today I want to give you some insight into how to choose a…

  BethSteffaniak

  September 20, 2015

  Choices, Counseling, Got Truth?, Proactive, Realistic Expectations, Spiritual Growth, Support

  Counseling, Got Truth?, Guidance, Interventions, Proactive, Realistic Expectations, Support