You're spending time together. Dinners, dog walks, evenings on the couch. Nobody's fighting, nothing is obviously broken. Something feels completely off and you can't quite point to it. In this episode I walk through seven signs your partner might be emotionally checked out, even when everything looks fine from the outside.

What this episode covers

• Sign 1: Questions that became routine rather than curious, and why knowing what's happening in your partner's life makes you better at asking the follow-up
• Sign 2: Physical affection quietly dropping, not just sex but the small everyday moments of touch, and why this can happen so slowly that hugging each other starts to feel slightly foreign
• Sign 3: Managing each other instead of talking, when the relationship starts to run like a workplace, and why that efficiency is a warning sign rather than a sign of maturity
• Sign 4: The phone as a barrier and an escape, what it signals when someone reaches for their device in uncomfortable moments, and the case for tech-free time together
• Sign 5: They stop mentioning the things that bother them, why silence in a relationship isn't always peace, and what it actually means when someone stops trying to bring things up
• Sign 6: They stop showing up for the moments that matter, from milestones and anniversaries to tough days, and how what counts as showing up changes over time
• Sign 7: No more future talk, why planning together is one of the clearest signals of investment, and what it means when those conversations fall off the radar
• Why this usually develops: missed bids for connection, fights that end in stonewalling without repair, and a slow accumulation of unresolved things
• How to start the conversation without putting your partner on the defensive
• When to get outside support and what that might look like

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

1:30 Sign 1: Questions that became routine

5:30 Sign 2: Physical affection drops

8:00 Sign 3: Managing each other not talking

9:30 Sign 4: The phone

13:30 Sign 5: They stop sharing what bothers them

16:00 Sign 6: They stop showing up for big moments

19:00 Sign 7: No more future talk

20:30 Why it develops and how to start the conversation

Resources and Links

• Relationship Reset course: marievakakis.com.au
• Free Conflict Workbook: marievakakis.com.au
• Connected Teens parenting course
• Marathon sessions at The Therapy Hub: thetherapyhub.com.au
• Connected Teen: marievakakis.com.au

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Instagram: @marievakakis

Website: marievakakis.com.au

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https://thetherapyhub.com.au/

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