It Starts With Attraction: Episode 107 – When Trust Is Broken And How To Rebuild It
In this episode, Zach Brittle joins us to discuss his work, training at the Gottman Institute, and how game theory works in a relationship.
It Starts With Attraction: Episode 106 – Do What You Love Without Sacrificing WHO You Love
Plenty of research talks about how a parent's interaction with their child will affect that child's future. It's called attachment theory, which boils down to the consistency and the quality of a parent's interaction with their child. The research shows there are four primary outcomes in attachment theory, but the only positive one is secure attachment. Secure attachment means that the child will believe that mom and dad will always be there when they need them. There are seven characteristics of strong families, the most important being quantity of time, not quality. The question is, what is most important to you? Financial stability is vital for any family, but is there a way to balance your work and family life?
It Starts With Attraction: Episode 105 – How To Live Out Your Faith On A Daily Basis with Yasmine Williams Woods
Yasmine Williams Woods became a mother at the age of 14. After being a single mother for years, it was a difficult adjustment to blend her life with another’s when she got married. Now a mother of four, she is on a mission to help women lead lives that prove that love conquers all. She talks about the importance of intentionally making time for God in her busy life. It’s not always feasible to start your day by spending time reading scripture but prioritize beginning your day with Him and worshiping when you can.
It Starts With Attraction: Episode 104 – Ways To Stay Calm When Everything Sucks
How can you stay calm when everything around you honestly just sucks? Does it feel like all hell is breaking loose around you? Do you feel like everything is falling apart and nothing is in your control? Maybe you feel scared, frustrated, or hopeless. What can you do? In this episode, Kimberly Beam Holmes shares tips for how to stay calm during chaos.
It Starts With Attraction: Episode 103 – Have Better Sex With Your Spouse
Sex is one of the ways we stay attracted to each other in a marriage. And you can have better sex with your spouse! Dr. Corey Allan found in a study that the higher your level of religious dogma, the less sexually satisfied you are because of the shame and guilt associated with it. This early discovery led him to be a voice that helps couples discuss and frame conversations around sex and marriage. He believes if you can't talk about what you want to do or about sex with the person you wish to have it with, you're not ready to have it yet. Dr. Allan joins Kimberly Beam Holmes to discuss how you can walk beside your child, helping them create their own informed decision about sex based on your family’s morality.
It Starts With Attraction: Episode 102 – Watch Out For These Pitfalls As You Work On Your Pies
Did you know that I was once ADDICTED to Crossfit? It's true. And I ran myself into the ground. I hurt myself physically, to the point that I still have lasting effects from that time in my life. There are great, impactful, and life-changing ways to work on your PIES but they also have to be mindful, careful, and life-giving ways.
It Starts With Attraction: Episode 101 – How The Enneagram Can Help You Understand Your Spouse
The Enneagram is a popular personality test that categorizes your personality into nine distinct types. The test informs you of traits, values, and motivations that can help in the workplace, personal development, and in your relationships. Christa Hardin joins us to discuss the difference between the nine types and how they can impact your marriage. She talks about the common misconceptions about the Enneagram, especially for Christians, what the best Enneagram combinations are within a relationship, along with how to keep your focus on the strengths of each type.
It Starts With Attraction: Episode 100 – Finding Hope Inside Of Loneliness – ft. Ben Higgins
Ben Higgins, of The Bachelorette and The Bachelor fame, joins us on our 100th episode of It Starts With Attraction! Ben discusses why he joined the reality TV shows and how he was looking to shake up what he felt was a boring and uninteresting life. He talks about his battles with addiction, feeling lonely and unseen, and how difficult it is to stand for your values when questioned about why you believe them. Finally, Ben reminds us that we've all experienced pain and have a story worth sharing.
It Starts With Attraction: Episode 99 – You Can Have A Great Sex Life
When’s the last time you had a conversation with your spouse about your sex life? Many people are raised with sex being a forbidden or negative topic in their homes. And for couples with marital problems, they say it’s because of a lack of sex between 50 to 70% of the time. So, how can you overcome those stigmas to have a healthy conversation around sex in your marriage and have a great sex life? Adam and Karissa from Dear Young Married Couple join us to talk about their counseling careers and how they’ve helped people open up about sex. We discuss everything from how to begin talking about sex with your children, using porn in your marriage, and how big of a role friendship plays in the bedroom in this episode of It Starts With Attraction.
It Starts With Attraction: Episode 98 – The Keys To Better Communication In Your Marriage
This week I chatted with Laura Heck from Marriage Therapy Radio. Laura is a Gottman Certified therapist in Washington State. Of course, we talked about communication but also self-care, the top issues Laura sees as a marriage and family therapist, how to work on yourself, conflict...all the things! Laura sees a lot of couples living as "roommates" and having a lack of communication, intimacy, and how to add more to their marriage. Intimacy fades with time because it's the assumption that you know your spouse already and the communication has broken down. We also talk about the Gottman 5-1 ratio. For every 1 negative thing, there should be 5 positive things to counteract them. Having emotional intelligence and understanding when your spouse took what you may have said or done negatively, and correcting it, is vital to a healthy marriage.