How to Deal With Energy Vampires and Negative People Without Losing Yourself
Learn how to deal with energy vampires and negative people without losing yourself. PCM®-based ways to protect your energy and your closest…
Couples & Relationships
Communication tools for couples who want to stop having the same fight and start understanding each other. Every article on this page is grounded in the Process Communication Model (PCM), the NASA-validated framework that explains why two people who love each other can still talk past each other every day. Learn how to de-escalate conflict, match your partner’s communication style, and rebuild the feeling of being on the same team. Written by certified PCM trainers at Affinity Consultants in Wichita, Kansas.
Article Categories
Communication Styles in Relationships: 6 Personality Types That Explain How You Connect
Every relationship has moments where one partner says something perfectly reasonable and the other hears something completely different. That disconnect is not…
How to Communicate Without Fighting: What Personality Styles Reveal
Fighting during difficult conversations happens when partners use the wrong communication channel for each other's personality type. A Harmonizer who needs warmth…
Can Your Personality Type Predict Your Attachment Style in Relationships?
Does your personality type shape your attachment style? See how PCM® personality types map to anxious, avoidant, and secure attachment in relationships.
How the Do-Over Can Save Your Relationship From Miscommunication
Learn the communication do-over in relationships: a simple repair tool that helps couples fix miscommunication, assume positive intent, and reconnect.
Signs You Need a Communication Workshop (Not Just Another Self-Help Book)
You have read the articles. You have tried the tips. You know you should "use I-statements" and "listen actively." But somehow the…
The Link Between Relationship Patterns, Distress, and Your Environment
You have noticed the pattern. Maybe it is the same type of argument with every partner. Maybe it is the same emotional…
What Your Partner Actually Needs From You (Based on Their Personality)
You have probably heard the advice: listen more, be present, show appreciation. And you have probably tried it. Maybe it worked for…
Why Couples Argue About the Same Things (and How to Break the Cycle)
Repetitive arguments are not about the topic. They are about unmet communication needs. When couples fight about dishes, money, or in-laws for…
Why Your Partner Becomes a Different Person During Arguments
You know the version of your partner who laughs at your jokes, plans weekend trips, and makes you feel like the most…
What Is It Really Like Being Married to a Therapist? 4 Honest Answers From the Spouses
What is it really like being married to a therapist? Two spouses give honest, funny answers about arguments, repair, and self-care in…
Are You Stuck in the Drama Triangle? How to Break Free From Unhealthy Conflict Patterns
Stuck in the same fight on repeat? A couples therapist breaks down the drama triangle in relationships and the healthy alternative that…
Is It Okay to Plan Intimacy? 5 More Relationship Myths Therapists Want You to Rethink
Think planning intimacy means something is broken? A couples therapist debunks 5 relationship myths about intimacy, conflict, and money to help you…
Are Common Relationship Myths Hurting Your Marriage? 4 Cliches Therapists Want You to Rethink
Happy wife, happy life? A Wichita couples therapist gets four common relationship myths debunked so you can drop advice that quietly hurts…
Why Is Compromise So Hard in Relationships? A Therapist’s Guide to the Art of Compromise
Why is compromise in relationships so hard? A Wichita couples therapist shares the pride-versus-peace shift that helps partners stop fighting to be…
Why Can’t My Partner Open Up Emotionally? The Action-Oriented Personality’s Struggle With Vulnerability
Is your emotionally unavailable partner shutting you out? Learn why the action-oriented Promoter fears vulnerability and how couples build real intimacy.
Why Won’t My Partner Just Tell Me What They Want? Understanding Passive Withdrawal
Loving a passive, withdrawn partner? Learn how passive partner communication and the PCM® Imagineer type explain the silence and help couples reconnect.
Why Does My Partner Get So Angry Over Small Things? Understanding the Thinker Personality in Distress
Why does your partner get angry over small things? Understand the Thinker personality in distress and the sadness hiding under the anger,…
Do Opposites Really Attract? What Actually Makes Relationships Work Long-Term
Do opposites attract in relationships, or just clash? Learn what really makes couples last long-term and how personality differences can become a…
Why Can’t I Express Anger Without Exploding? The People-Pleaser’s Guide to Healthy Conflict
Passive aggressive behavior in relationships often hides unspoken anger. A couples therapist explains how people-pleasers can express needs without exploding.