All Posts By

Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott

Mar 01
Love21

Infidelity: Does the Root Cause Matter?

By Communication, Conflict 40 Comments

Learning that your spouse has had an affair is a jarring, traumatic emotional experience. For the foreseeable future after the discovery (or your spouse’s confession), you’ll go through a deeply painful mourning period. Everything you believed about your life before this knowledge may be shattered, and you may wonder if you’ll ever be able to trust your spouse again. Picking up the pieces after infidelity is incredibly difficult, but it can be done. The question is, can it be done if your spouse isn’t willing to dig into the why behind his or her actions? Why We Want to Know…

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Feb 22
Love23

Balancing Act: Marriage and Friendships

By Communication, Self Reflection, Time 7 Comments

Friendship is a great blessing. Can you imagine going through life without friends? (We sure can’t!) Our friendships make up some of the closest relationships in our lives, and that doesn’t stop when we get married. But when we go through a huge change in life, like beginning a dating relationship or getting married, it shifts the landscape of our relationships. Even though these changes occur, it’s important to find a new balance together, because maintaining our close relationships is important. So how do we do that? Focus on Your Marriage First When you get married, it can be difficult…

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Feb 15
Love18

5 Romantic Date Ideas to Maximize Your Quality Time

By Communication, Time 11 Comments

Valentine’s Day may have come and gone (and we hope it was fantastic!), but we’re big fans of celebrating love year-round. One of the best ways to express our love is by reserving some of our good energy for one another. When it comes to time, it’s very easy for couples to give each other their leftovers. Our lives are so busy these days, and jobs, kids, activities, and other obligations can quickly sap our energy before we’re able to give our best to one another. In fact, by the time most couples come together at the end of the…

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Feb 08
Love24

How to Fight a Good Fight

By Communication, Conflict One Comment

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” – Romans 12:18 Conflict is an unpleasant state to find yourself in, no matter what the situation. But the idea of facing conflict in your marriage can be downright paralyzing, whether you’ve been married for years and have developed bad fighting habits, or you’re newlyweds and disagreements are relatively new territory. The good news is, conflict can actually be good for your marriage. Fighting a good fight has the power to create a deeper level of connection between you and your spouse. If you…

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Nov 25
Love20

How to Boost Your Spouse’s Self-Esteem

By Self Reflection 2 Comments

How can I help my spouse feel better about themselves? At some point in our lives, we all deal with issues regarding our self-esteem. Couples can be a great source of strength for one another when it comes to boosting a sense of self-respect in both individuals. You are the #1 person in the world who can help your spouse become happier and more confident. In today’s video, we’ll share some ways you can start working to help your spouse build a healthy sense of self-esteem. Since you’re married to your spouse, and you share a home and life together,…

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Nov 23
Love30

How to Defuse a BIG Fight

By Conflict 6 Comments

You’re in the heat of battle. Your spouse has morphed into a nearly unrecognizable person, and you’re running defense in the worst way possible. What started out as a small disagreement has exploded into a full-scale BIG FIGHT. How did it get to this point? More importantly, how are you going to get out of it without causing major damage to your relationship? Hit the brakes. If your fight is spiraling quickly out of control, it’s time to take a breather. It’s up to you how long you take to cool down, but do whatever it takes to stop the…

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Nov 18
Love22

Help! How Do I Turn Off the Guilt?

By Communication, Conflict No Comments

The smallest things push my “guilt button,” and I know this has a negative effect on my marriage. What should I do? “I could’ve done this.” “I should’ve done that.” “If I could do it over, I would’ve done this.” How many times have you spoken to yourself this way? Do you ruminate often about things you probably shouldn’t worry about? Do you have a constant wave of regret and second-guessing that leads to an unhealthy self-perception? These thought patterns can easily become addictive and toxic if you allow yourself to settle into them. Did you know that loading yourself…

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Nov 16
Love24

Emotional Intimacy: How to Connect on a Deeper Level

By Communication, Self Reflection 8 Comments

You and your spouse have a good marriage–great, even–but you’re ready to take it to the next level. Maybe you’re physically intimate, but you want more of that intimacy to extend to your emotional life. In today’s post, we’re sharing five tips for increasing the emotional intimacy in your relationship. Each of these tips builds on the next to help you create the deep, fulfilling connection you’re craving. Nurture Trust In order for your marriage to be as emotionally intimate as possible, you and your spouse must be able to trust one another implicitly. This means that both of you…

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Nov 11
Love17

Chores & Housekeeping: Who Should Do What?

By Communication, Conflict, Time No Comments

I don’t do all the housework in our home, and my husband hates it! How do I tell him I can’t do it all on my own? Today’s busy culture has changed a lot about what life and work looks like. Full-time jobs now look very different than they used to, and both men and women are often stretched to their limit. So what do you do if you want to hire a little extra help around the house–and your husband or wife is totally against the idea? It’s difficult to approach your spouse and acknowledge a personal limitation. And…

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Nov 09
Love18

3 Ways to Soothe Your Spouse’s Anxiety

By Communication, Conflict 6 Comments

Anxiety. Most of us have been there: an issue that–to the outside world–seems arguably small balloons into a crushing, suffocating weight. Our hearts race. Our palms sweat. We descend into a spiraling panic, and find that it’s difficult (and even hopeless) to stop the feeling of dread building inside our chests. Most of us know what anxiety feels like when it’s happening to us, but it can be difficult to know how to help someone we love when they are being riddled with it. It’s easy to feel at a loss, not knowing what to do or say. Can’t they…

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