Embracing Hard Conversations for a Stronger Marriage

Navigating the complexities of marriage can sometimes feel overwhelming, especially when confronting those hard, often uncomfortable conversations. It's so common to shy away from these tough talks, feeling a swirl of anxiety, fear, or even dread. You might find yourself thinking, "Why bother?" because the uncertainty of a positive outcome looms large. But here's the thing: conflict is inevitable in any close relationship. Whether it’s with your spouse, children, or even colleagues, disagreements are bound to surface because it's simply unrealistic to expect complete harmony at all times.

The key, though, is in how we handle these conflicts. Choosing to avoid them might seem tempting because it keeps us comfortable in the short term. However, this avoidance can lead to deeper issues, with growing resentment and prolonged discomfort. Instead, we can choose to confront these challenges head-on with the intent...

The Secret to a Stronger Marriage: Choose Connection Over Being Right

It's easy to fall into the trap of wanting to be right in our relationships, especially in marriage. After all, proving our point can feel so satisfying in the moment. But, as I've come to learn as a marriage coach, the real prize isn't in winning an argument – it's in nurturing a loving, connected relationship. In this quick read, let's explore how shifting from seeking victory to prioritizing partnership can transform your marriage.

You Can Be Right or You Can Have the Right Relationship

One of the biggest realizations I've had is this: in any conflict, you can either be right or have the right relationship. This doesn't mean you should become a doormat or always be wrong. It's about recognizing that in marriage, feeling connected and understood outweighs the temporary thrill of being right. It's the emotional intimacy that builds a strong couple, not the moments when one stands...

Navigating Marriage: Turning Conflict into Connection

This episode is about embracing imperfection, the strength of vulnerability, and how practicing what I preach to my clients and my community can transform relationships. Let's dive into an authentic, behind-the-scenes look at how one can apply principles of understanding and calm even in frustrating moments.

Facing Frustration: Recognizing Patterns

Marriage isn’t perfect, and for many of us, it's a continual learning path. At times, we face disappointment and unmet expectations, especially when juggling responsibilities. With one partner deeply immersed in work and the other managing a business, stress levels can rise when communication falters.

A Familiar Scenario: Juggling Responsibilities

Imagine the scene: hectic weekdays where one drops off and picks up kids, balancing between dance classes and school pickups. Tuesdays were meant for a shift in routine—where my husband covers the pickup....

Navigating Anger in Marriage: Turning Arguments into Conversations

In this episode, we're diving into how recognizing and understanding emotional patterns can transform arguments into more productive conversations, ultimately fostering growth in our marriage.

Understanding Emotional Patterns

Let’s be honest, no one wakes up hoping to have an argument with their spouse. In fact, most of us hope for smooth sailing each day, desiring progress rather than setbacks in our relationships. Recognizing our emotional patterns is a pivotal step toward achieving that. Once we understand the habitual ways we react during conflicts, we can begin to navigate them more effectively. These patterns often form as protective responses, but they don’t always serve our best interests.

Teaching Our Children Emotional Management

Our emotions heavily influence our daily interactions, so it's crucial to handle them wisely. This is especially important as parents, as our children...

Every marriage experiences conflict but have you ever wondered why certain couples' conflict experience calm conversations and others seem like their conflict is more like a world war?

Conflict is an essential part of your marriage and can be used to connect deeper with your husband, but only if dealt with in a healthy way.

In this week's episode of The Marriage & Motherhood Podcast, I shared:

• Why we experience conflict
• How our approach to conflict impacts marriage
• The two ways people deal with conflict

Listen here and remember to subscribe, leave a review, and share it if you loved this episode! 

For more resources on how to have a happy and successful marriage, head on over to www.michellepurta.com and subscribe!

If you feel disconnected in your marriage, it could be because there's a lack of emotional intimacy.

When you think of intimacy, you may immediately think about sex aka physical intimacy, but emotional intimacy plays a bigger role in your satisfaction in your marriage than you might know.

In this week's episode of The Marriage & Motherhood Podcast, I shared:

• What intimacy is
• What emotional intimacy is
• What marriage is like when there is emotional intimacy
• Signs that your marriage has emotional intimacy
• Signs that your marriage could use more emotional intimacy
  

Listen here and remember to subscribe, leave a review, and share it if you loved this episode! 

For more resources on how to have a happy and successful marriage, head on over to www.michellepurta.com and subscribe!

Conflict is actually good for your marriage.

I think a lot of you will probably agree with me on this, in that Disney movies, and all those fairy tales really ruined us in terms of how we define a happy marriage. Growing up, all the way up until probably the last five, or six years. My idea of a happy marriage did not involve conflict. It didn't involve arguments. I thought that if you argued that meant that your relationship was not healthy. Lo and behold, in my experience of conflict in my marriage earlier on and in my past relationships, there were a lot of conflicts. Anytime I got upset or annoyed or something didn't meet my needs, or I felt disappointed in some sense. There was conflict. That led to a lot of different beliefs from me, in my head, my lovely mind. It created a lot of drama for me. Beliefs, like, “Oh, I'll never find someone who fully gets me.” It was just a lot of back and forth a lot of conflicting beliefs around a conflict in...