I am by no means an expert on marriage, however, over the last several years through mentoring and coaching my wife and I have gotten to know several pre-married couples and several married but struggling couples. Here are some general observations we’ve learned.

• Past and present problems within the Family of Origin of each spouse can have a huge impact on a marriage.
• Communication problems are an almost universal struggle in marriage.
• Each individual’s personality plays a huge role in marital problems so some kind of personality assessment can be helpful.
• A willingness to learn on the part of both parties is critical in making progress toward reconciliation.
• Learning to forgive is absolutely necessary in healing marriages.

Part of the reason for mentioning these is that if some counselor or mentor has suggested that you should consider a personality assessment or inventory, or that maybe some family issues are causing problems, slow down long enough to hear them out because they might be on the right track. There are many resources available to help with each one of these observations. Contact us if you want more information.