#alternate alternate alternate alternate alternate IFRAME: //www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-NW5PKS (BUTTON) Psychology Today * Find a Therapist Find a Therapist Therapists https://www.psycholo (BUTTON) v + Therapists + Treatment Centers + Psychiatrists + Support Groups (BUTTON) x _________________________ (Search) Search Therapists: Log In | Sign Up * Get Help Mental Health + Addiction + ADHD + Anxiety + Asperger's + Autism + Bipolar Disorder + Chronic Pain + Depression + Eating Disorders Personality + Passive Aggression + Personality + Shyness Personal Growth + Goal Setting + Happiness + Positive Psychology + Stopping Smoking Relationships + Low Sexual Desire + Relationships + Sex Family Life + Child Development + Parenting View Help Index Do I Need Help? + Self Tests Recently Diagnosed? + Diagnosis Dictionary + Types of Therapy Talk to Someone + Find a Therapist + Find a Treatment Center + Find a Psychiatrist + Find a Support Group * Magazine Current Psychology Today Magazine November 2018 7 Extraordinary Feats Your Brain Can Perform How to activate your brain's superpowers. 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Subscribe Issue Archive Back Today News * + Toxic Relationships Made it to Number One In 2018 + Understanding the Connection Between Sleep and Anxiety + New Blood Test Helps Predict (and Prevent?) Bipolar Disorder + What Is Really Happening When We Feel Authentic? * Essential Reads + 3 Ways to Explain Human Behavior + Is Loneliness Making You Sick? + Lithium: Cellular Trickster + A DNA Blueprint for the Future * Trending Topics + Narcissism + Alzheimer's + Bias + Affective Forecasting + Neuroscience + Behavioral Economics + See All ____________________ (Search) Go [icon-check-circle-gray.svg] Verified by Psychology Today Shutterstock Marriage Monogamy Managing a Marriage Marriage is the process by which two people make their relationship public, official, and permanent. It is the joining of two people in a bond that putatively lasts until death, but in practice is often cut short by divorce. Over the course of a relationship that can last as many as seven or eight decades, a lot happens. Personalities change, bodies age, and romantic love waxes and wanes. And no marriage is free of conflict. What enables a couple to endure is how they handle that conflict. So how do you manage the problems that inevitably arise? And how can you keep the spark alive? AlexGukalov/Shutterstock * 7 Questions You Have to Ask Each Other Before You Commit * Why We Want Who We Want * Is There a Perfect Age for Getting Married? Tying the Knot The choice of spouse is among the most important personal decisions most people ever make. While we can’t see into our romantic futures, the science of relationships does offer insight into the decision process. Exploring these findings can help suggest when the time is right, what partners should know in advance, what matters most in weighing the decision, and why we are drawn to the type of person we might spend the rest of our life with. But whether or not marriage makes sense ultimately depends on characteristics of the individuals it would formally unite. CedricE/Shutterstock * Four Ways to Fortify Your Relationship * Of Love and Lust * How to Make Your Relationship Divorce-Proof Keeping the Relationship Strong Every marriage brings challenges, often profound ones, and how a couple faces them could decide whether their relationship collapses or holds firm. Guarding long-term love may require jettisoning misguided beliefs or dysfunctional habits that partners can carry with them through the years. Divorce-proofing a marriage can also mean identifying and shoring up the strengths that make a couple work—both before and after the wedding—and reinforcing them with new skills and approaches to sharing life together. Recent Posts How To Make Love Last By Sean Grover L.C.S.W. on January 01, 2019 in When Kids Call the Shots 5 skills happy couples share. Consensual Non-Monogamy: A Year of Sex Research in Review By Sarah Hunter Murray Ph.D. on December 31, 2018 in Myths of Desire The sex research on Consensual Non-Monogomy (CNM) is burgeoning, but the top researchers in the field still believe we have a lot more to learn. What Is Normal Sex? By Marty Klein Ph.D. on December 31, 2018 in Sexual Intelligence Almost everyone is curious about other people's sex lives. The truth may not be exotic, but it's profound. Why Delayed Ejaculation Is More Common Than Folks Realize By Michael A. Perelman Ph.D. on December 31, 2018 in Sexual Tipping Point Increasingly more American men and their partners are suffering from delayed ejaculation and what you need to know about it. Research Shows One Skill Can Keep Your Relationship Happy By Melanie Greenberg Ph.D. on December 31, 2018 in The Mindful Self-Express Research shows us how reducing negative feelings and behavior during conflict can help you communicate more constructively so you can maintain a happy relationship over time. Elina_Lava_Shutterstock Tying the Knot? It's wedding season Planning a Wedding? Inviting Hundreds of People? Starting a New Chapter Your Pre-Wedding Jitters The Use of Fiction in Dysfunctional Relationships By Berit Brogaard D.M.Sci., Ph.D on December 30, 2018 in The Mysteries of Love What allows us to take pleasure in horror movies and ancient Greek tragedies can be repurposed as a glue that can temporarily tie together the pieces of a broken relationship. Communication Is the Glue That Keeps Families Strong By John D. Rich, Jr., Ph.D. on December 30, 2018 in Parenting With Purpose The distractions of life can often get in the way of our relationships with our family. How to Manufacture Love II By Eyal Winter Ph.D. on December 29, 2018 in Feeling Smart Aaron's procedure for manufacturing love could help with your date. How Your Body Image Influences Your Sex Life By Charlotte Markey Ph.D. on December 29, 2018 in Smart People Don’t Diet How do feelings about your body impact your experiences in the bedroom? 3 Ways to Gain Perspective During Conflict By Amie M. Gordon, Ph.D. on December 29, 2018 in Between You and Me Fighting about the same issue over and over again? Research suggests several ways you can gain perspective and get past this issue. More Recent Posts Meet Psychology Today's Bloggers on Marriage Marty Klein, Ph.D., is a certified sex therapist and a licensed psychotherapist. He has written five books and 200 articles about sex. His TV appearances include 20/20 and Nightline. Amie M. Gordon, Ph.D., is a post-doctoral scholar in Social-Personality Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Jennifer A. Samp, Ph.D., is Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Georgia where she studies close relationships, conflict, power, and moral injury. Lawrence Josephs, Ph.D. is a professor of psychology at Adelphi University and has a psychotherapy practice in New York City. His research focuses on infidelity and the role of authenticity in intimate relationships. See All Bloggers Marriage Resources Get Help Find a marriage therapist. ____________________ (Search) Search Test Yourself * Relationship Satisfaction - Couples With Kids * Relationship Satisfaction - Couples Without Kids * Love Diagnostics Connected Topics * Divorce * Infidelity * Jealousy * Mating * Sex advertisement Essential Reads * What Is Normal Sex? * 3 Ways to Gain Perspective During Conflict * Obliging to Manage Conflict: Does it Work? * Do You Want Sex More Than Your Partner Does? * The Top Relational Investment to Create a Lasting Marriage Find a Therapist Get the help you need from a therapist near you–a FREE service from Psychology Today. ____________________ Search Cities: * Atlanta, GA * Austin, TX * Baltimore, MD * Boston, MA * Brooklyn, NY * Charlotte, NC * Chicago, IL * Columbus, OH * Dallas, TX * Denver, CO * Detroit, MI * Houston, TX * Indianapolis, IN * Jacksonville, FL * Las Vegas, NV * Los Angeles, CA * Louisville, KY * Memphis, TN * Miami, FL * Milwaukee, WI * Minneapolis, MN * Nashville, TN * New York, NY * Oakland, CA * Omaha, NE * Philadelphia, PA * Phoenix, AZ * Pittsburgh, PA * Portland, OR * Raleigh, NC * Sacramento, CA * Saint Louis, MO * San Antonio, TX * San Diego, CA * San Francisco, CA * San Jose, CA * Seattle, WA * Tucson, AZ * Washington, DC Are you a Therapist? 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