In this first episode of Ask Jess and Dave, we dig into the question: What is criticism really doing in a relationship? Not as a communication style to be managed or a bad habit to be curbed, but as a signal — a warning sign pointing toward deeper dynamics that are asking for awareness, understanding, and care. Drawing on our combined clinical and lived experience, we explore what life actually looks and feels like when criticism isn't part of the relational culture, why so many of us have come to accept it as inevitable, and what it means when we do. This is a conversation about what's possible when partners stop tolerating what doesn't belong, and start getting curious about what's underneath it.