This week Nicola and Di chat with one of Australia’s most sought after relationship therapists, Melissa Ferrari. Melissa has been working with couples for over 25 years, helping them create healthy, secure relationships. She is certified in the Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT) and is regularly called upon as a relationship expert in national media. We know that the quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives and that connection to others is vital to our health and happiness, so we were thrilled to explore this topic with Melissa. 

In this conversation we hear about the common challenges that couples face that Melissa sees over and over again in her therapy. Melissa gives us some good advice for how to ‘fight right’, including the importance of being face-to-face and looking each other in the eyes. 

We chat about the hormones that flood our bodies when we’re in love, and what we need to remember when those hormones wear off, and we’re really getting to know the person in front of us. Melissa talks about putting the relationship first, recognising that you’re in a 2-party system where things are give and take, and the need to get to know each other on a deep level, including the trauma that you’re both bringing into the relationship. 

Nicola opens up and shares a very vulnerable story about a recent relationship she was in, which ended in deception and betrayal. You won’t believe this story until you hear it! She talks about the importance of speaking up, of holding people to account, of women supporting women, and feeling empowered. 

We hope you enjoy this special episode with Melissa as much as we did. And if you love our Over The Back Fence chats, come and hang out with us and some amazing guests at our in person event this week on the 19th of June at the Woolly Bay Hotel in Sydney. You can buy your tickets here - https://events.humanitix.com/over-the-back-fence-podcast-9r2scfqj/tickets 

This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. 

Follow Melissa on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/melissaferrari_psychotherapist/

Follow Melissa on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/melissaferrarirelationshipspecialist

Follow Melissa on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-f-38a77575/

Find out more about Melissa’s work here - https://www.melissaferrari.com.au/

Buy Wired For Love by Stan Tatkin (Melissa’s teacher and mentor) here

Buy Wired For Dating by Stan Tatkin here

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Watch Over The Back Fence on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcasts

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