Untitled

{"id":5958,"date":"2024-06-23T14:27:25","date_gmt":"2024-06-23T18:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/?p=5958"},"modified":"2024-06-23T14:27:25","modified_gmt":"2024-06-23T18:27:25","slug":"4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways to Have Meaningful Conversations with Your Partner"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Sydney, 39, and Tim, 40, have been attending counseling sessions for over three months and when I asked them what they were doing to celebrate their anniversary this year, they both paused and said they didn\u2019t have plans.<\/p>\n

Happy couple embracing and laughing on the beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tim reflects, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what we do for our anniversary, we never really get along anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sydney responds, \u201cThis is true, it seems hypocritical for us to go out for a pricy dinner when we argue and never really listen to each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

What I explained to this couple is that having meaningful conversations can help couples feel more connected. In fact, spending periods of quality time doing shared activities alone with your spouse each week is the most important way to deepen physical and emotional intimacy.<\/p>\n

Whether you make a standing date to go to the gym, explore your neighborhood, watch a movie, go to a concert, you and your partner must make a commitment to time alone each week and talk about what\u2019s important to you. I know the demands of daily life seem to leave little time or money left over for relaxed, fun activities, but alone time together is part of the time and energy investment you are making in your relationship will pay off. It\u2019s like making a deposit in your savings account, positive time together adds up over time and will contribute to intimacy and loving feelings.<\/p>\n

4 Ways to have more meaningful conversations with your partner: <\/strong><\/p>\n

\nCarve out time for daily rituals to do with your partner<\/strong>. For instance, 15 minutes to debrief your day when you first arrive home, waking early to cuddle, and showering or bathing together. Consider eating one meal a day without screen time to enhance communication.<\/li>\nHave a Stress-relieving conversation daily.<\/strong> In The Relationship Cure<\/em><\/a>, Dr. John Gottman suggests that you have a 20 minutes stress-relieving conversation in the evening when you don\u2019t try to solve problems but take turns listening and offering support.<\/li>\nAsk your partner open-ended questions<\/strong> such as \u201cIs something really bringing you joy right now?\u201d Or, \u201cWhat was the best part of your week so far?\u201d These are questions that will allow your partner to give you more than a yes or no answer and encourage a good conversation.<\/li>\nListen to your partner attentively. <\/strong>Pay attention to his or her needs and do your best to support them when possible. In a nutshell, to be your partner\u2019s best friend. Friendship is at the foundation of every great marriage and close relationship.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n**
** **Remember to never underestimate the power of having great conversations with your partner. Doing fun things together like playing a game, watching a funny movie, or giving each other a massage, can help you feel emotionally connected and enhance your conversations.\u00a0 In order to feel close in your relationship, make an effort to have a meaningful discourse with your partner and to listen and be there for them.<\/p>\n

Find Terry on Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>Facebook<\/a>, <\/strong>and, movingpastdivorce.com<\/a>. Terry\u2019s award-winning book\u00a0Daughters of Divorce<\/a>: Overcome the Legacy of Your Parents\u2019 Breakup and Enjoy a Happy, Long-Lasting Relationship. Her new book The Remarriage Manual<\/em><\/a>: How to Make Everything Work Better the Second Time Around was published by Sounds True in 2020.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sydney, 39, and Tim, 40, have been attending counseling sessions for over three months and when I asked them what they were doing to celebrate their anniversary this year, they both paused and said they didn\u2019t have plans. Tim reflects, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter what we do for our anniversary, we never really get along anyway.\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3446,"featured_media":287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[48,17],"class_list":["post-5958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-communication","tag-marriage"],"yoast_head":"\n4 Ways to Have Meaningful Conversations with Your Partner<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sydney, 39, and Tim, 40, have been attending counseling sessions for over three months and when I asked them what they were doing to celebrate their\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"4 Ways to Have Meaningful Conversations with Your Partner\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sydney, 39, and Tim, 40, have been attending counseling sessions for over three months and when I asked them what they were doing to celebrate their\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Terry Gaspard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-23T18:27:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/950\/2018\/05\/happy-couples_rwox98.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"398\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Terry Gaspard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Terry Gaspard\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/\",\"name\":\"4 Ways to Have Meaningful Conversations with Your Partner\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-23T18:27:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-23T18:27:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#\/schema\/person\/ba01e6b422051aeb596fd0abeaf11a46\"},\"description\":\"Sydney, 39, and Tim, 40, have been attending counseling sessions for over three months and when I asked them what they were doing to celebrate their\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"4 Ways to Have Meaningful Conversations with Your Partner\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/\",\"name\":\"Terry Gaspard\",\"description\":\"Relationship, marriage, divorce, remarriage.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#\/schema\/person\/ba01e6b422051aeb596fd0abeaf11a46\",\"name\":\"Terry Gaspard\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e14dc16f52a1c4e561af4ef345f5ff41?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e14dc16f52a1c4e561af4ef345f5ff41?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Terry Gaspard\"},\"description\":\"Terry's new book, The Remarriage Manual, is available for purchase from your favorite bookseller.\",\"sameAs\":[\"brandygrenier\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/author\/tgaspard\/\"}]}<\/script>\n","yoast_head_json":{"title":"4 Ways to Have Meaningful Conversations with Your Partner","description":"Sydney, 39, and Tim, 40, have been attending counseling sessions for over three months and when I asked them what they were doing to celebrate their","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"4 Ways to Have Meaningful Conversations with Your Partner","og_description":"Sydney, 39, and Tim, 40, have been attending counseling sessions for over three months and when I asked them what they were doing to celebrate their","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/","og_site_name":"Terry Gaspard","article_published_time":"2024-06-23T18:27:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":398,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/950\/2018\/05\/happy-couples_rwox98.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Terry Gaspard","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Terry Gaspard","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/","name":"4 Ways to Have Meaningful Conversations with Your Partner","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-06-23T18:27:25+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-23T18:27:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#\/schema\/person\/ba01e6b422051aeb596fd0abeaf11a46"},"description":"Sydney, 39, and Tim, 40, have been attending counseling sessions for over three months and when I asked them what they were doing to celebrate their","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/2024\/06\/4-ways-to-have-meaningful-conversations-with-your-partner-3\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"4 Ways to Have Meaningful Conversations with Your Partner"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/","name":"Terry Gaspard","description":"Relationship, marriage, divorce, remarriage.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#\/schema\/person\/ba01e6b422051aeb596fd0abeaf11a46","name":"Terry Gaspard","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e14dc16f52a1c4e561af4ef345f5ff41?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e14dc16f52a1c4e561af4ef345f5ff41?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Terry Gaspard"},"description":"Terry's new book, The Remarriage Manual, is available for purchase from your favorite bookseller.","sameAs":["brandygrenier"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/author\/tgaspard\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3446"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/terrygaspard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}