Has anyone ever told you you're too assertive, or not assertive enough? There's a certain connotation from the word that makes it a dirty word in romantic relationships.

Amy shares the true definition of assertiveness to remove all doubt and explains how to set the scene to exercise some level of assertiveness, so as not to suffer consequences later on.

Take a chill break from whatever you are doing, and have a listen to this chilled "free time" chat from Amy McLaren on a couple of relationship musings.

Amy takes a social psychology phenomenon to do with crowds, and wonders if the same thing doesn't happen even when there's just two, not even a crowd.

She also chews the fat about contingency planning, given what Josh has been working through at his job this past week.

(Backing track is "I Got This" from Fesliyan Studios)

Sometimes, we don't give each other enough credit. This episode is about correcting that.

Hear a little bit about Josh & Amy's biggest conflict area in their marriage and how it has been working out during this time, when this area of their marriage has been under the most intense pressure in all their 18 years of being together.

https://nomythmarriages.com

Has anyone ever asked you the rhetorical question: "What did you expect?" with the meaning that you shouldn't have expected anything other than what you got?

In this episode Amy invites couples to actually seek the answer next time someone asks them that. And she invites the male listeners to go against a social norm (in the privacy of their own home of course).

Plus, find out how many millions make a billion (oh, you already know? Amy had to look it up - must be all that lack of sleep!) in this refreshing episode of The Pilot's Wife.

A whole lot of our communication is non-verbal. When we are having a heated discussion, the non-verbal stuff actually blocks the real message getting through. This is often why the argument goes around in circles without getting resolved: because the real message isn't getting through.

Amy gives a hack for either type of non-verbal communication style - both body language, and tone, which can be applied in any relationship to trump the non-verbal stuff and allow the real message to get through.

In this episode Amy has been digging around, and found some research from a few years back about an unconventional method for preventing divorce.

http://www.rochester.edu/news/divorce-rate-cut-in-half-for-couples-who-discussed-relationship-movies/movie-list.html

In this special episode, you will get probably the one and only opportunity for you to be a fly on the wall within one of Amy's private couples counselling sessions.

Amy goes through some of the values exercise material in a different way to usual, and explains a key concept in maintaining a successful and satisfying relationship that has not been covered before.

There are obvious benefits to working on our relationship skills, primarily being happier and enjoying our life much more when our marriage is doing well.

There are also some hidden benefits to becoming relationship ninjas too. Amy highlights one benefit that contributes to a lasting legacy we can build, simply by having a good relationship with our spouse.

Happy New Year! If you're anything like Amy, you've experienced a number of relationships around you, maybe including yours, suffering from some kind of argument or tension over Christmas.

It brings about the topic of when relationships feel like they are going in a downwards spiral, how to recognise if this is the pattern or if it's just a temporary, seasonal phenomenon, why it's happening and what to do about it.

Be encouraged by the normality of relationship grumpiness and that there is something you can do about it and here is an answer for you.

Amy and Josh don't argue too often, but every couple has their hiccups. Amy has decided to have a break from arguing at all over Christmas - and has come up with a strategy she is going to try out.

She invites you to partner with her in trying this method and explains how it would work.

This is the final episode for 2020, episodes will re-ignite in early January 2021.