Premarital Counseling Questions, Who Are You?

David CantuArticles, Personal Growth, Relationships

Premarital counseling questions typically include ideas about spirituality, religion, finances, culture, blended families, compatibility and identity. One’s sense of identity directly affects that person’s ideas of compatibility. The reality is we’re unique and at our core we’re the same, we all want happiness, intimacy, and fulfillment in life. Premarital counseling questions surface many deeply ingrained and cherished beliefs about who …

Marriage and Family Counseling Austin

David CantuArticles, Love, Relationships

Most client couples prefer to focus on their intimate relationship, but many still contact us for help for the entire family. We ask that children be at least in their teens, our focus with families is the parenting as well as the marriage relationship. We believe that a stable marriage creates a critical foundation for a strong family. Marriage and …

Is Life Getting Worse, or Are You Living the Good Life?

David CantuArticles, Emotion, Personal Growth

During elections, a common miss-perception among voters is that if the “other” party wins, life is bound to become downright miserable. People put a great deal of stock in their emotional beliefs about what is good and what is bad, often without a realistic interpretation of past, impending, or future results. The reality is that once the election is over, …

Couples Therapy Questions for Austin Marriage Counseling

David CantuArticles, Relationships

How does it work? Our sessions for couples counseling in austin, or online, is highly interactive. After getting information from a couple we begin by giving feedback and confirming with each person about the appropriateness of the information. Couples will both get information specific to them. It’s practical, personal, and effective. We strive to make each session informative and helpful, …

Couples Counseling Techniques

David CantuRelationships

Probably the most important couple counseling technique any counselor can use is empathy, the ability to sense and understand what each person is experiencing and feeling throughout the relationship. Without empathy a coach will be distant, the opposite of what is required to gain a person’s, or a couple’s, trust. With trust a couple will find themselves sharing both their …

Emotional Maturity Level

David CantuArticles, Emotion, Personal Growth

I got an email from a client recently in which she described herself as emotionally immature. She’s a very warm person, hard-working, and intelligent, but I asked myself, “Is she immature?” The simple answer is yes, she is, but aren’t we all emotionally immature in our own ways? It’s helpful to think of emotional maturity as residual. We are each …

How to Listen Effectively

David CantuArticles, Relationships

Understanding Others Through Healthy Communication People tend to respond to what others say with their own thoughts. This is a natural part of the ebb and flow of conversation. However, it often means they aren’t listening. Even though we all “know” how to listen we often do a poor job of it. True listening takes effort and practice. How will you …

What Does Chemistry in a Relationship Mean

David CantuArticles, Emotion, Love, Relationships

Chemistry in a relationship is like a performance; one is electrifying and another is boring. But no matter what, for love’s sake, you have to keep working at it to make it better. Chances are you’re reading this because you’re in a relationship lacking in chemistry and wondering whether to stay or go. Maybe the chemistry was once there, but you no …

What Makes a Good Relationship Work?

David CantuArticles, Relationships

There are those who give little of the much which they have – and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome. ~ Kahlil Gibran What do you think is the most important ingredient for a successful relationship? Would you say love? How about respect? Maybe you think it’s sex? Is it communication or commitment? Yes, all …

Emotional Intelligence – Learn to Monitor Your Emotions

David CantuArticles, Emotion

Emotion is thought materialized in our physical being. Emotion is both the joy and the bane of our humanity. Life without it would be bleak and colorless, yet it defies and distorts our comprehension. This reminds me of the old saying, “Can’t live with them, and can’t live without them.” Knowing emotion is a fact of life doesn’t solve, for most …