Can a relationship survive without intimacy? By Julie Vincent

March 2nd, 2010

A relationship needs intimacy. Regardless of whether it’s a physical intimacy or an emotional intimacy, your relationship will slowly wither and die without it. This is where it gets tricky. Because your relationship actually needs both types of intimacy.

You cannot create a physical intimacy without the emotional intimacy, nor can you have complete emotional intimacy without the physical aspect as well. This is where many couples find their relationship in trouble

To read on click here

Why is Intimacy For Him Important For Successful Marriage By Alicia McWilliams

March 1st, 2010

Most of the time, men are pictured to be very sexual beings. They have the “macho” character, which is already bestowed upon them as soon as they are able to play with their toy gun or cars during childhood. However, as adults, men are also known for their “insensitivity” when in a relationship. They’re often referred to be “jerks”, “playboys”, and “chauvinistic pigs”.

Men’s outlook with relationships is different as a group. Most of the time, having a relationship would mean more fun. In fact, they can survive with less intimacy than women. As a result, they hunger after more of the enjoyment and pleasure that sex can bring them. Hence, this accounts for the significantly large number of men who report that they would like to have more sex.

Most women find it pretty hard to comprehend how their men could be content with their life as it is. Many think, “doesn’t he need more passion?” “Doesn’t he need more fun?” “Doesn’t he need to get more connection with our family, me as his wife, or our community?” Whatever the concern may be, the reality is that most men are what you could call “emotional camels.”

Similar to how camels could go forever without needing water in the midst of a desert, so could most men go without needing feelings of fulfillment, intimacy, or even the colorful excitement life could offer.

To read on click here

Sexual Intimacy In Marriage

February 28th, 2010

Sexual Intimacy In Marriage

Sexual intimacy in marriage is critical to a healthy, happy relationship between husband and wife. Along with theemotionalintellectual, and spiritual aspects, God designed husband and wife to enjoy the experience of sexual intimacy in marriage: intimacy, as we’ve just defined it, is the

To read on please click here

Love, Sex and Intimacy in Marriage By Angie Lewis

February 27th, 2010

Love, sex, and intimacy are essential components that great marriages require for complete stability. Real love is the spiritual aspect, sex is physical and intimacy is emotional. It would be difficult to love your spouse if you only thought about yourself. This is not real love. Selfish people often have a difficult time giving of themselves, and yet, that is what love is all about. Love is more than a feeling, it is an action, and therefore, real love takes effort and sincerity.

LOVE:

In scripture, a husband is commanded to love his wife. What do you think is going to happen if that love is not a sincere love for his wife? She will feel frustration, resentment, and anger, and she will have a very difficult time submitting herself to the man she married. When a husband does not love his wife the way God has asked him to love his wife, all sorts of problems will develop in the marriage, mainly rebelliousness, and selfish thinking.

To read on please click here

Improving Intimacy in Marriage by Stephen Martin

February 17th, 2010

About Marriage Intimacy

Intimacy is the cornerstone of marriage and it encompasses every aspect of a relationship including the physical, emotional, and spiritual connection between two people. Physical intimacy is often what sparks a relationship, but what keeps the spark alive is the emotional and spiritual connection that forms over time. The benefits of intimacy in marriage are far reaching.

Healthy intimacy is not only good for the couple, but its by-products spill over into the lives of children, friends, family members, and even to the work environment and community.

The Challenge of Maintaining Intimacy

Many couples experience a point where intimacy takes a backseat to everything else that’s happening in life – careers, the house, the children, and just generally surviving day to day. Maintaining the level of intimacy that exists in the beginning of a relationship can prove challenging and, worse, the loss of intimacy can be a major source of stress and difficulty in marriage. So many couples find themselves in this position, especially as life gets more complicated with home ownership, children, and careers. It’s so important, at this point, to find a way to reclaim intimacy. If it was there in the beginning, it’s possible to get it back.

Couples first need to recognize the importance of intimacy in marriage and set an intention to reclaim it and strengthen it. We grow as people, as couples, and as families, and intimacy has to grow as well. This is the bond that started it all and it’s ultimately the bond that will keep it together.

To read on click here


The Importance of Intimacy in Marriage by Liam Hamer

February 16th, 2010

For most people, when they hear the word intimacy they often think of the physical, sexual side of their marriage or relationship. However, this is not the case when you are talking of true intimacy. Yes, sex is a big part of being intimate in a marriage, but the actual definition of intimacy is, a familiar and very close affective connection with another as a result of entering deeply or closely into relationship through knowledge and experience of the other. This basically means we know the workings of our partner’s mind. We have spent the time and energy to really get to know one another. To glow in each other’s strengths and to accept each others weaknesses. True intimacy takes time to develop, it doesn’t happen at the click of the fingers. Mistaking intimacy for lust is a very common mistake to make and if you have made this assumption then fixing the problem that you are having in the bedroom may be easier to fix than you might think.

There are 4 main aspects of a relationship: Physical, Spiritual, Mental, and Emotional. For a marriage to succeed, a certain level of intimacy is needed in all these categories. There are several different factors that keep us from being truly intimate. When you can identify the reasons keeping you from being intimate in any aspects of your marriage you can start to knock down the barriers, and achieve a closer bond with your spouse than you ever thought possible.

Identifying Intimacy Barriers

From my years of experience in this field, I have found the main factor keeping us from achieving optimum intimacy is fear. This fear usually takes 2 main forms: fear of rejection and fear of being hurt.

To read on click here

How to Restore Intimacy in Marriage

February 15th, 2010

Any couple who has been through a difficult time knows that intimacy in marriage can often be the first thing to exit a relationship.  Spouses who find themselves constantly at odds are unlikely to show physical affection.  The mere thought of physical intimacy can be a turn-off when you feel undervalued and unloved.  However, a sexless marriage is an unhappy one.  To save your marriage, it is essential that you make resolving your intimacy issues a priority.

What Causes Intimacy Issues…

Before you can restore intimacy in marriage, you have to understand what created the distance in the first place.  The three main causes for a sexless marriage are listed below.

Get Help Here To Restore Intimacy in Your Marriage

1-Emotional Distance: This tends to be the main reason why women stop responding to their husband’s advances.  A wife who feels unappreciated by her husband often does not feel inclined to open herself to sexual intimacy.  Many women equate a helpful husband with a loving husband.  It is no wonder that a recent study discovered that men who share household chores are more likely to have frequent sex with their wives.

2-Physical Appearance:
Yes, it seems as though appearance should not matter to committed spouses, but the fact is that we are visual creatures.  While it is commonly the husband who loses desire when his spouse gains a substantial amount of weight or practices poor hygiene, women too can be turned-off by an unkempt spouse.  If you suffer from a sexless marriage and give little thought to your appearance, extra attention to hygiene and health habits might make all the difference.

3-Poor Self-Esteem: Intimacy in marriage can be hampered by a spouse’s fear of rejection and failure.  Low self-esteem can be paralyzing.  Sexuality involves opening oneself up completely emotionally and physically.  The very vulnerability that makes sex a sacred part of a marriage relationship can also make the thought of intercourse unbearable to some.  If you or your spouse suffers from debilitating self-esteem issues, you will need to work patiently together to overcome these fears.  In addition, many couples find that a professional marriage therapist can help cultivate needed trust.

To read on click here

Honesty in Marriage

February 14th, 2010

Honesty in Marriage

© Penny R. Tupy 2004

Honesty is perhaps one of the most basic needs in marriage. Without honesty, problems that may destroy the relationship can lie hidden for years, building momentum, creating blocks to intimacy, and then suddenly surfacing larger than life to wreak destruction in your marriage.

Honesty is the foundation upon which all other aspects of marriage are built. With honesty you know exactly how your actions will affect your mate, and you can make the necessary adjustments to accommodate his or her feelings.

With honesty, you and your spouse are aware of each other’s weaknesses, and can work with that knowledge. Knowing and understanding the thoughtless things you might be inclined to do, allows you to take precautions to prevent that from happening.

“But we are honest!” you say?

How honest are you? Is there a line you can draw which marks where a little bit of secrecy turns into dishonesty? Is there such a thing as mostly honest?

Being honest is like being pregnant, or alive. You either are, or you’re not. There is no half way, no mostly, about any of those things. In marriage, partners must learn to become completely honest with each other if they are to achieve true intimacy.

Here’s a little quiz. Do you, or have you, shared the following information with your spouse? Do you know the same sorts of things about him or her in return?

Your past. Does your mate know all there is to know about: former lovers, friends, occupations, dreams, mistakes, achievements, failures?

Your feelings. How do you feel about the events of your life? Especially your reactions to the things that your mate does? How do you feel about the life you have created together?

Today. What are your plans for the day? Who will you see, what will you talk about, where will you go, when will you be home, how can you be reached?

To Read on click here

How To Rebuild Intimacy

February 13th, 2010

Studies are showing that more often today couples who have been married for some time can often experience a loss of intimacy.  While intimacy can be defined differently, it’s common that many couples will experience some amount of disconnect or diminished amounts of affection and intimacy towards each other.

In many of these cases, this experience and subsequent behavior spirals out of control, and what’s left is a marriage that is void of intimacy, and the couple begins to wonder what happened.

While there can be many different reasons that lead to this problem, there are remedies and exercises that can be implemented to help reverse this process, and restore intimacy to a marriage.

A very common technique marriage counselors use is to simply recommend taking a break from sex, for 2 weeks to a month.  What this does is encourage the couple to first see if they can be intimate again, and then focus on the intimacy itself.  While this approach is not bad, and often helps, the following techniques and exercises take this several steps further.

Couples usually get married to their soul mates, with the belief that this person is the only

To read on please click here

I was 8 when it started by Amber Dawnon 28 Jan 2005

February 12th, 2010

I was 8 when it started. My daddy, the most important person in the world to me, would come into my room at night. Drunk and most likely stoned (I knew my daddy smoked weed) he would creep into my room and finger me or perform oral sex on me. He was my hero and I used to say how if he died I would jump into the coffin with him. I always thought he thought he was with my step-mother, he was just to drunk to know. I never cried while it happened. I would act like I was asleep and I would try to push him off or to fight him, but we all know that doesn’t work. Around when I was 10 I actually ran from him and called the police, but daddy wasn’t far behind me and hung up on the operator. The next morning the police showed up asking who had called and why. I wanted so badly to tell them why but I couldn’t. When I was 11 I was on a camping trip with my best friend Stephanie. While we were walking around the campground we were talking really deeply when I told her about daddy. At that moment she revealed that her brother had done similar things to her. We then thought if we tell her parents maybe they could adopt me. He was also physically abusing my older brother and me. I remember my brother having black eyes and fights so fierce we wound up in the front yard beating the sh*t out of each other. But like I was saying, the whole time from 8 to 12 he would come in at least 3 nights a week and molest me. No screams, crying, I would bite and kick and resist. At 12 I started to think, “What if I became pregnant with my fathers baby?” Granted he still hadn’t gone that far and I hadn’t started my period but I knew it was coming soon. So I made a pact or a promise to myself that next time it would not happen. So when he came to do it again I was awake and waiting. He just told me good night, kissed me on my forehead, and left. I called my friend Stephanie and told her about my promise and I told her I would be there in about 30 minutes and asked if she could meet me. I made my bed and wrote my daddy a letter saying that I would rather run away then ever let him touch me like that again. When I met up with Stephanie we talked about the possibilities. Finally it came down to me making one call to the local sheriff’s department. I was so surprised how quick they showed up, but also how many were there. I swear at least 10-15 different patrol cars came through. They asked for my story, tried to calm me down, and tried to figure where I would go. First, I was taken to an abuse center and examined. Then, they took me to the county Juvenile detention center. I was in there associating with the female inmates for the next three days until my biological mother’s parents came and got me. But the thing is I never have nightmares or emotional breakdowns. I hurt when I think about the memories and I still talk to my dad I just can’t ever forgive him. I’m 18 now and I live with my boyfriend. It’s really hard to talk about and some of my family members will never forgive me for bringing the truth out. But I know in my heart what I did was right and what he did was truly wrong. He still hasn’t said sorry.

To read more click here

Search our Site
Get In Touch
Toll Free: 1.866.877.9770
Phone: 604.272.5211
Email: Click Here
Twitter: @actcounseling
Skype:Click Here
Skype Me™!
Certified PTSD Expert
Get New Posts in Your Inbox

Enter your email address:

Subscribe to My Blog
Archives
Unlimited Web Hosting
We are proudly hosted by Canadian Web Hosting, an affordable, easy-to-use, feature-rich, unlimited web hosting solution for Canadians. Click Here to host your web site with a Canadian owned and operated company.