How Mentor Couples Look at Commitment claire isaacson commitment for couples mentors Jul 14, 2022
By Claire Isaacson, MA LMHC PLLC
PACT Level 2 Therapist

I have been a therapist for over 30 years, and I can’t tell you the number of times I have heard my individual clients wonder if it’s even possible for a romantic relationship to last. 

They look around and see relationships...

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Gearing Up to Get Outside blair anne hensen communication for couples outdoors Apr 13, 2022

Blair Anne Hensen, MS, LCPC, NCC
PACT Level 2 Therapist

As the daylight grows longer and temperatures get warmer, it’s time to get outside! Nature is an incredibly important part of wellness. Stepping out of our human-made worlds and into nature offers presence external to ourselves. Simply...

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Parenting During a Pandemic and Other Tough Times for couples parenting parents Mar 15, 2022

 Kara Hoppe, MA, MFT

PACT Level 2

PACT Note to Parents: For guided practice and more skills to bring to your partnership, register for Kara’s Win-Win Parenting: Better Partners Make Better Parents, a new PACT workshop for couples, Saturdays online, April 23–May 21. 


When I...

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Building Capacity to Know and Be Known in PACT Therapy for couples renee d doe Feb 17, 2022

Renee D. Doe, PhD, LMFT, LPC

PACT Level 1 Therapist


            The idea of secure functioning is a main focus of PACT therapy. This focus hones in on creating and maintaining a safe container, where both parties operate in a two-person...

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Lead With Relief: It's Not Logical, It's Biological for couples jess cleeves Jan 14, 2022

by Jess Cleeves, MAT, CSW

PACT Level 2 Therapist


I'm sure this hasn't happened to you (wink), so I'll speak from experience. Before my partner and I discovered PACT, we'd have conflict, just like we do now. Before PACT, one of us would raise an issue with the goodhearted goal of finding a...

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Dealing with the Unavoidable Extended Family  family for couples jon taylor Dec 19, 2021

Jon Taylor, LCSW, CSAT, CMAT

PACT Level 2 


“Who is your real family, me or them?”

Figuring out how to deal with your and your partner’s extended families can be difficult. It’s one of the major sources of disagreement between partners. Both partners can have deep...

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“Happy Wife, Happy Life”… Right? for couples mark mouro secure functioning Oct 20, 2021

By Mark Mouro

PACT Level 1 


I don’t know about you, but when I was a young man growing up and trying to navigate the treacherous world of relationships, one adage stuck with me more than any other: “Happy wife, happy life.” Remember that one? Some of you may live by that...

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3 Things Couple Therapy Can’t Do and What It Can annie chen for couples secure functioning Sep 20, 2021

 By Annie Chen, LMFT (https://www.changeinsight.net)

PACT Level 2 Therapist


The Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy (PACT) centers around a set of principles that are grounded in relationship fairness, mutuality, and safety, what we call secure functioning. Everything I do as a PACT...

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Welcoming Baby Bomb baby bomb for couples kara hoppe stan tatkin Aug 16, 2021

Welcoming Baby Bomb

The following is an excerpt from Baby Bomb: A Relationship Survival Guide for New Parents, by Kara Hoppe and Stan Tatkin, now available for purchase here. 

When Jude was only a few days old, Charlie and I were sitting all cozy on our couch on a winter afternoon, as...

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Real Talk on Betrayal betrayal cheating for couples infidelity jake porter Jul 14, 2021

By Jake Porter, LPC, NCC, CPC

PACT Level 2 Therapist


You’ve been betrayed. Or maybe you did the betraying. Either way, your relationship is on life support, and you’re wondering if the only answer is to say goodbye and pull the plug.

Maybe. Maybe the cut is too deep, the hurt too...

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From Me to We: When Perspective is Key for couples sashi gerzon-rose Apr 20, 2021

Sashi Gerzon-Rose, MA, LPC

PACT Level 1 


In Japanese, the phrase sottaku doji means “simultaneously pecking from inside and outside.” Zen Buddhism uses this as a metaphor for the relationship between teacher and student; the student is pecking from the inside, and the...

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Defining Healthy Dependence dependency for couples mutuality vanessa morgan Mar 16, 2021

Vanessa Morgan, MS, LMFT

PACT Level 3 Candidate


In an attempt to understand and treat clients, therapists often use terms, such as codependent, toxic, narcissistic. These words then find their way into pop culture and, like a bad game of telephone, can lose their intended meaning or become...

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