In this episode I share my answers to 2 questions recently presented to me. They are: (1) What advice do you have for active believing members and (2) What do you wish active believing members understood?

I’ve seen my clients in a mixed faith marriage struggle with the criticism and defensiveness cycle. In order to break a cycle it is important to understand it and take responsibility for it. This podcast starts you on that road and offers some questions to help you learn about your part in this cycle.

I have heard from my clients that they don’t know what to do when their spouse has a negative opinion of them. 

What are they supposed to do if their spouse thinks they are a racist, looks like a drug addict because of their tattoos, or that they are untrustworthy due to their faith transition?

I suggest one initial step and then a series of questions to help explore the next steps.

A mixed faith marriage can cause some to question marriage as an institution. It can open up questions about why you got married and why you stay married. In this podcast I discuss some of those questions that may look like:

A LDS mixed faith marriage often means the loss of certain dreams. There may be many lost dreams: the dream to be senior missionaries, to attend the temple together, and to raise kids in the church together. Here I talk about the loss of dreams through the lens of codependency.

The loss of a dream will trigger the grief cycle. When you can allow the grief cycle and work through that process you can end up in acceptance.

Acceptance is the key to moving forward in your relationship when dreams are no longer viable.