"My ex husband and I were parting after 11 years of marriage and three years of intensive couple's therapy. This felt like a long dark tunnel of loss, failure, and deep sadness...
...The last thing I wanted was to interrupt my sons' childhood with divorce. My ex-husband didn't want that either. It was truly our last resort." ~Julia P.


And every single time it breaks my heart.


Two things stand out to me in this true story. 

1. Neither one really WANTED to divorce, because they felt it to be a huge trauma and loss, but they didn't know any other way.

2. They were really good-hearted people! They actively sought out help and "three years of intensive couple's therapy" didn't help them. 

Doesn't that strike you as odd?


Why didn't it help this couple, who REALLY worked hard at it? 


For three years! That's a LOOOOONG TIME! to do couple's therapy with a licensed expert.


Today I will tell you why.


In my journey, I discovered 2 shocking truths about the "marriage therapy" industry. 

In the video linked below, I share: 
1. what I discovered (from the mouths of the "experts" themselves, no less!)
 2. how unbelievably shocking it is
3. why you don't have to just "hope" things can get better, but why there's an ACTUAL PLAN to completely transform your relationship!

Find out why couple's therapy isn't working and what to do instead.
always with love, 
Irene

The other day, one of my daughters was getting some grapes out of the fridge. 


She pulled off a strand and all of a sudden two or three grapes flew off unintentionally on to the floor. 


I gasped! 


(Not because I'm obsessed with keeping our floors amazingly clean or anything...Lord knows with 6 kids, that's nearly impossible) lol. 🤣
But because we have a dog. 
Did you know that a single grape can seriously hurt a dog? 
It can shut down their kidneys! 
I never grew up with dogs so that's not something I always knew or came intuitively to me. 


But now that I know that such a seemingly insignificant thing could actually be seriously harmful, that knowledge is empowering. 
What does this have to do with your relationship?
Well...everything! 

You see, every time I hear from an amazing good-hearted woman that she is experiencing fighting, anger, and emotional distance in her relationship...


I listen in for the "grapes."  


Those things that if you drop them, even unintentionally, they will seriously hurt your man's heart. 
And over 42 years of data demonstrates that your man will react to them by getting upset and emotionally shutting down...


...which makes you feel like your husband doesn't care about you or the relationship. 


But it isn't true. He cares for you...deeply.


I know that every time there is fighting, anger, or emotional distance in the relationship, the "grapes" are there. 
I see them. 
They seem so small and insignificant that they are often overlooked. Hardly anyone even thinks they are relevant, 
but ooooh they are!


Now, what if you just picked them up off the floor and removed them from the picture? 
What would happen then?


I'm going to tell you what would happen. 


The fighting stops. 


The apologies come. 


The tuning-in-to-each-other emotionally becomes an every day reality. 


You find yourself cuddling up in bed, touching each other affectionately, and sharing meaningful conversations. 

You find yourself smiling. 


Your husband goes out of his way to delight you.


It is AMAZING!!!


Women are SO surprised every time this happens but it's actually predictable.


...because they didn't realize how SIMPLE it is for their relationships to be saved and to be turned around DRAMATICALLY! 


If you're like most women I serve, you didn't grow up learning what the "grapes" are.  


How to remove them. How to attract and invite a significantly better RESPONSE from your man.
It's like a BIG, "OOOOhhhhh" moment. "Why didn't anyone tell me this sooner?!?!?"




And then from there, everything in the relationship becomes much easier. 
He comes home and greets you with a tender kiss.  


He takes the kids, so you can relax and have some more "me" time to refresh...


He gives you little cards and notes telling you what an amazing woman you are...
You're sexually attracted to him! And it feels SO great, after months or years of not having that. 


And that's why I can say to you with confidence, luv,


You can be tenderly loved in your marriage.


I know you have a lot of theories about why it isn't possible. 

Because based on what you've seen him say and do, it doesn't seem to be so!


I hear you...(hugs)


and at the same time...I also see those darn grapes on the floor. 


Why not remove them and start enjoying the real fruit of emotional intimacy?


Because the truth is...
You CAN be tenderly loved in your marriage. 


It is yours to receive...

“Ladies, I am at a total loss. My husband just doesn’t care about anything I want. He doesn't contribute enough, he never understands me, and we are constantly fighting. He is just so mean. Marriage sucks.”
I felt for her. 
It’s truly awful to live in such emotional distress!
But I had just gotten off a coaching call with a client who, two weeks ago, was going to file for divorce. 
She happily told me that very day that she and her husband stopped fighting. Everything was much calmer. He was listening to her point of view on their decisions, and going out of his way to make her happy. 
So I knew it was possible. ;)   
(I’m not a magician, but once you understand the principles of complementarity in the love of man and woman, you do have an unfair advantage.)
So I reached out to the sweet woman in the anonymous post and asked her more specifically what the problem was. 
“I just tell him really clearly that he’s leaving everything for me to do, and then when I point that out, he gets angry and avoids me. I’m his wife! He should be stepping up with the kids and wanting to spend time with me.” 
Agreed! He should be stepping up!
But I could already see why her approach was turning him off. 
Do you see the problem?
Everyone says "communication is key," but rarely does anyone define what that means.
In the name of “honest communication” she was telling her husband all the ways that he was already failing her, and expecting that this would somehow motivate him to do better.
But you know what?
That’s pretty much the worst way to get your husband to respond to you in a tender loving way.
Want to know why?
Write this down. Make it your mental mantra...
(Drumroll...)
Your husband wants to succeed with you.
That's right! He does.
Now maybe you’re thinking, “yea, right. If he really wanted to succeed with me, he would finally start listening to what I’ve been trying to tell him for years. He’s just an angry and stubborn man. That’s just how he is.”
But it isn’t true.
If he’s your husband, he definitely wants to succeed with you.
If you're not seeing his sweeter side lately, no worries. It's not going to stay that way.
Phew! (Here's where you take a deep breath, let it out slowly and feel a little relief.)
Now go ahead and grab your favorite chocolate or wine (or both!) and get super comfy on your couch.
Because I'm going to tell you what's really going on and why you don't have to feel so stuck and hopeless. 
 (Pause to seriously go get some food or beverage you love...because, why not!?!?)

Ok, so now that you're comfy on your couch, let's get one thing perfectly clear. Because if you don't get this, then nothing else about your relationship will make sense.

Ready? Here it is...

You are the amazingly beautiful woman who captivated your man's heart.

You are!

Your husband just LOVES your loveliness! It makes him go wild. Secretly he thinks, "if only I could be the hero of her heart."

(Yes, I can read his mind and I can show you how to do that too.)

Because here's the truth.

When your husband succeeds with you, he feels happy too!

Isn't that amazing?!?!

Now, note that the reverse is never true. As a wife, you never sit around saying to yourself, “Well, I’m just happy when he’s happy”.

(Because secretly you’re not!)

In fact, if your husband is sitting around looking at his iPhone and you’re bringing in the groceries with a baby on your hip, you’re probably feeling resentful.

That’s because as a woman, you feel cherished and loved when your husband comes through in meeting your desires.

Because then you feel like he’s listening and he CARES!

Now...listen very closely...

Since you are the beauty who captivates his heart, your husband very naturally WANTS to pursue you, adore you, and love you tenderly, because that's how he gets to be your hero, which is exactly what he wants!

(See how nicely that fits together?)

We call this the mystery of complementarity: Your man is the pursuer and you are the pursued.

(Like sex! More on that later..)

But what if you're not seeing that sweet side of him lately?

I’m going to just shoot you straight. No B.S. No fluff.

99% of the time something dramatically shifted in your relationship.

It probably looks something like this...

Your husband did something that disappointed you, and it really bothered you.

It felt really sucky.

So...being the reasonable person that you are...you kindly pointed out what he did wrong with the hope that he will act differently...and by "differently" you mean way better.

But he didn't!

(What?!?!?)

Instead, he immediately became defensive or angry, and eventually he just started avoiding you.

And that hurt SO much.

It made you feel like you can't really trust him.

That he's not the man you thought he was, and now you doubt very much that he'll come through for you.

You're feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and resentful. The pain prevents you from having the happy family life you've always dreamed of.

So you start racking your brain!

Why does he act that way?

You start thinking about some negative parts of his upbringing that you hadn't considered before.

You're wondering whether he may have an undiagnosed issue or personality disorder.

You start googling...

You start posting anonymously in private FB groups trying to figure out what to do and if anyone else has experienced this.

You ask your husband to go to marriage counseling but he’s reluctant!

So you patiently try again to tell him what he needs to improve so that your marriage will improve, but it doesn’t help.

He acts worse!!!

It’s literally unbelievable.

So you don’t know WHAT to do!

The trouble is that marriage problems are private, so no one really knows what you're suffering. You oscillate between feeling so resentful and just so depressed.

You’re reading books and blogs on how to cope with a stubborn husband.

Things are finally “making sense.”

Except for the most important thing...

Nothing is actually getting better in your relationship.

Meanwhile, something is changing.

It’s pretty dramatic, but you don't notice it.

In fact you don’t even realize that it's happening!

So you don’t see that there’s a very clear and straightforward way out of the pain. 
Want to know what it is? 
(See my blog post right below this one.)

WHO IS CHASING WHOM?!?!
Remember the first key principle of complementarity I mentioned in the above post?
(As you enjoy some much needed chocolate. It's medicinal. ;)
Your man is the pursuer and you yearn to be pursued.
That means you just LOVE it when your husband chases after you and makes you feel pursued, adored, and tenderly loved in your marriage. 
Except, what's happening in your relationship right now?
Are you chasing after him, telling him all the reasons why he needs to be better so you can finally be happy? (Is that approach working for you? Probably not!)
Or is he chasing after you and delighting you in the way you yearn to be loved? (The secret desire of your heart!)
Ask yourself. Who is chasing whom?
The AMAZING POWER OF COMPLEMENTARITY IN MARRIAGE
All happy marriages are built on the natural complementarity between Man and Woman.
Let's unpack a bit what this means.
As women we yearn to be chased after and cherished. We yearn to BE ADORED and loved. 
In a complementary way, men LOVE to chase after us and know that they have been successful in making us feel loved. That's how all marriages thrive!
By the way...that's why at Adored for Life we never refer to you as a generic "partner" or "mate." We know your feminine heart matters!
Now, it's vital to grasp the 3 Step relationship pattern for HOW every woman feels cherished and adored.
It mimics the pattern for how you and your husband fell in love. We call this the "Rhythm of Romantic Love."
1. You inspire him2. He pursues you3. You receive him
Maybe in your sweet dating days, he noticed how lovely you are, so he asked you out for coffee, hoping you'd say "yes."
Do you see what happened there? (Your femininity inspired him, he pursued you, you received him).
Then he was just enthralled by you and wanted to woo you even more, so he sent you flowers.
(Again, you inspired, he pursued, you received).
Eventually the relationship was SO good he couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with you so he asked you to marry him. (Notice, you didn't ask him!)
Again, you inspired him, he pursued you, you received him.
Now that you see this relationship pattern for how you fell in love, you'll notice that in every happy and thriving marriage, this 3-Step pattern, where you feel pursued and adored, continues again and again in your own home!
Not just once, but again and again....Adored for LIFE!
But, BUT, but....
For most couples, there are WAY more stressors in actual married life than there are in your dating days: financial stress, parenting stress, fertility stress, running-a- household stress...
The list goes on.
It's easy to get upset and overwhelmed when you feel like your husband isn't doing what he needs to be doing in any of these areas. It can lead to arguments and fights.
That's why, once you're actually married, there are 3 things you need to be able to do if you want to continue to be pursued and cherished, again and again in your home.
Step 1. Eliminate Drama & Get More of What You WantStep 2. Learn How Your Man Feels LovedStep 3. Increase Tenderness & Emotional Intimacy
Here's a real life example of what it can look like...
Imagine sleeping in and waking up lazily to the smell of fresh coffee your husband made sure was set the night before....just because he knew you would love it.
As you roll over to nurse your newest baby, you realize that the resentment you had towards your husband has vanished. Instead, you feel EXCITED to be in the same room together, and you start the morning snuggling up with him in bed. [Step 1. Eliminate the Drama & Get More of What You Want]
As he heads off for work, he kisses you tenderly, and says he'll give you a call later to see how you're doing.
He knows just how hard it is to take care of your kids during the day, (especially the toddlers!) and he wants you to know how much he appreciates you. [Because...Step 2. You Learned How Your Man Feels Loved, so he keeps going out of his way to make sure you feel his love too.]
As you sit in the infamous carpool line to pick up your older kids from school, he texts you a hilarious meme and then calls you just to see how your day is going.
Since you were feeling tired today (and your kids were driving you bonkers!), he offered to pick up dinner so you can relax and get some much needed "me" time.
(*Note...no arguments over spending money or "who does more.")
After dinner, you take a relaxing bubble bath...
(with a glass of wine, of course!)
You feel calm and relaxed because you received so much love and support from your husband.
As you retire to the couch, he puts his arm around you and you share with each other what was on your heart today. [Step 3: Increase tenderness & emotional intimacy]
You just feel so connected to him!
It's Ah--MAAAZING!!!!
In fact, you're in such a good mood, you might even be interested in you know what... 
and no I don't mean Netflix! ;)
Do you see how it all works?
What this means is that instead of chasing after your husband and feeling constantly stressed out, overwhelmed, and unsupported in your marriage, all of a sudden, he's chasing after you, making sure you feel adored and loved.
Which is what you wanted in the first place. :)
Here are all the important details to make it easier.
1. Eliminate Drama & Get More of of What You Want:
This is all about communicating your needs and desires in a way that influences his heart so he’s inspired to respond to you (while also giving up the “communication” that drives him away and leads to his anger and stonewalling). This strategy saves you SO MUCH time and cuts out needless drama so your husband listens carefully to you and uses the best of his mind and heart to come through for you.
2. Learn How your Man Feels Loved:
...aaaand you also love him in the way he most yearns to be loved! This is where you get the exact strategy for coming up with awesome solutions to your conflicts, so you NEVER FIGHT AGAIN (yes, you heard me correctly). The best part? You both fulfill each other’s heart effortlessly.
3. Increase tenderness & emotional intimacy.
Every woman yearns to be tenderly loved. Every woman yearns for emotional intimacy. (That’s already half the reason you said “I do.”)
Now take a minute and let these quotes sink in...
"Tenderness is the ability to feel with and for the whole person...this is the kind of tenderness a woman expects from a man, and she has a special right to it in marriage." ~ John Paul II
And also this one....
"The man must reckon with the fact that the woman is in a sense in another world unlike himself...since he has to play the active role in the marital relationship, he must get to know that other world, and indeed as far as possible project himself into it emotionally."
Pope John Paul II
Don’t you just yearn to be loved like that?
In Step 3 of the process, we show you what exactly moves your husband to caress you with tenderness so you feel like you’re falling in love with him all over again.
We’ll also show you how to cultivate emotional safety, so he feels free to share his heart with you. (YES!)
Now...will it take more than one week to experience all this?
Probably yes.
But will you have an unfair advantage over every marriage program in the world because you understand the principles of male-female complementarity? Will you be the HAPPY, FUN, irresistible woman who inspires her husband’s attractive and tender love?
YES!
You will see the bigger picture and understand exactly why a few counseling sessions or unstructured “skills” don't make you Adored for Life!
Only a deeper dive into the mystery of complementarity-your feminine heart's deep yearning to be pursued, adored, and tenderly loved in your marriage—will get you there.
Want this? APPLY HERE!

When couples seek out marriage counseling, the premise going into those sessions is always something like this: 

"I'm upset with you. You are not acting right. You are not meeting my needs. There is something wrong with you. You need to fix your anger problem, you need to stop shutting me out. You need to change and improve."

Nine times out of ten, it's you (the woman), sharing that message with your man.

By the time you've reached this point of seeking out couple's counseling. you have already tried communicating this to him in a kind way at home, but he doesn't really seem to get it and things haven't improved. 

In fact, the more you tried to express this to him, the worse he reacts! 

You saw him with your own eyes get defensive, upset, or maybe even he becomes coldly quiet, and doesn't speak to you for hours, or if things get really heated, sometimes even for days. 

His distressing reaction leads you to believe that the situation is even worse than you thought! 

Hence why you are seeking out couple's counseling. Because you are a caring person and you care about your relationship! 
(By the way, I really admire that!) :) 

You care about what kind of life your kids will have if this issue doesn't get resolved. 

But here's the reality...

(and it's something John Paul II also discovered when women came to him with their marriage problems--I go into this and how to fix it in WAY more in detail in my program).

***Telling your husband why he needs to change and improve is the OPPOSITE of how he will actually change and improve.***
Read it again! 
***Telling your husband why he needs to change and improve is the OPPOSITE of how he will actually change and improve.***

99% of women don't understand this at all about the way a man's heart is, and it leads to SO much hurt, and pain in the relationship. 

It also makes it difficult for you to see how easily and quickly this situation can be turned around.

Unfortunately, going to couple's counseling, where you're just going to do more of this kind of communication, but try to soften it with "active listening" and "I statements" exacerbates and perpetuates the damaging cycle.

Your husband will feel humiliated, upset, and likely shut down even more. 

This emotionally exhausting experience will lead you to believe that your man is too damaged and flawed to have a healthy relationship, and there's nothing you can do because he refuses to change. 

Let me tell you something.

*YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT KIND OF DRAMA in your relationship.

You literally do. not. have. time. for. that. 

That's not who you are, or what you want to bring into your life. 

So whenever you're ready to ditch the failed approaches and actually learn:

- how to eliminate the drama and get more of what you want- learn how your man (as a man!) actually feels loved, and- increase tenderness & emotional intimacy, 
Let me Know!

Because you got married to live happily ever after--even after seeing the real him with all his weaknesses and flaws--and still knowing exactly how to attract all the love and intimacy you want in your relationship.

It's yours to receive.

When you see your man get angry or shut you out emotionally after you just made a helpful suggestion, it feels really upsetting.

I mean...why does he act like that? Doesn't he know that it makes you feel incredibly hurt and lonely?

Your head starts spinning in all directions trying to make sense of his strange reaction.

And since you're a compassionate person, you want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Maybe it's not really his fault.

Maybe it's his upbringing!

After all, you know how much family of origin influences us, and you know that his childhood maybe wasn't the best.

But what upsets you most of all is how his family baggage is affecting your relationship right now!

In the present!

So next thing you know, you're telling him that you guys need to go to counseling to fix his issues so that at last he can be a better husband and father.

Seems like a reasonable solution, right?

After all, if you don't ever get to the source of the problem, how will it ever be fixed?

And if it's never fixed, how will you ever have the happy and emotionally intimate relationship that you, as a woman, crave in your heart?

Why Focusing on His Childhood Wounds is Damaging Your Relationship

Here's the truth.

The more you focus on why your husband is "damaged," has "issues from his childhood" the more you are sending the message to him that in your eyes, he's not a capable nor admirable man.

He's more like a wounded puppy.

But if he would only fix...X, Y, or Z, he could be (at some point in the future, hopefully), a good man.

What's happening is that you're telling him that in your eyes, he's not really someone whom you can respect.

Maybe to you it doesn't sound like that's what you're saying, but that's what he hears.

And this will not land well upon his heart. Why?

Because it's basically like saying you don't really love him. Maybe he's even said that to you, and you find this response bewildering.

This is SO confusing for women because from our perspective, it feels like we're actually showing just how much we CARE about him and the relationship, and we're just having "honest communication" and "addressing the issues."

But this is not how you'll get the intimate relationship that you desire. Not only that, but you'll be spending so much time, money, and most of all emotional energy on all the WRONG things, so you won't have the tender relationship you really want in the first place.

Don't believe me?
Talk to any woman who divorced her husband. She'll tell you all about his flaws and his childhood wounds, and why their relationship couldn't work because he refused to work on himself, despite couple's counseling.

This really breaks my heart because it doesn't have to be that way. I know this upsets some people who have already chosen otherwise, but the truth is, 99% of the time, relationships are entirely fixable, so long as you know and do the RIGHT things.

But what if he really does have issues?

Now, let me be clear. I'm not denying that people have issues. In a certain sense we all do (ha!). So what can you do when you see issues from his past that you feel are affecting your relationship?

This is exactly what we teach in the Adored for Life Signature program.

What if you knew exactly how to preserve the EMOTIONAL SAFETY of the relationship so that all of a sudden, your husband vulnerably shared with you about his own failures and flaws, and he knew he could trust you to listen and hold that space for him with love.

What if--because you're now a pro at emotional safety--you see your husband, on his own (gasp!) begin to take steps towards his own personal growth (without you having to keep reminding him).

It would be amazing, right?

This is not a fluke. It's the fruit of understanding sexual difference, and why you and your hubby are not generic "partners" or "mates."

If you want to see dramatic transformation in your relationship, so all those "issues" that caused so much tension are gone, then reach out to me today!

My soul's mission is to make every woman be pursued, adored, and tenderly loved in her marriage.
 Isn't it time to say "yes" to that?

Without naming names, let's talk about one of the most well known programs in the Catholic world for helping couples with their marriage. The program teaches that marriage follows four stages: 

1. Romance2. Disillusionment3. Misery4. Awakening

The rationale is that most divorces happen when couples go through the "misery" stage not realizing that it's "normal" and they never make it to the awakening stage where things calm down and at last, become more peaceful. 

No. No No. No! No!
And honestly....Ew!

Let me set the record straight for you. 

There is literally no such thing as "misery" as a stage of marriage.

First of all. Let's begin by tapping into our common sense. 

Is there ever a stage in any area of life where being in excruciating pain and extreme "misery" is a sign of health and growth? 

No. There isn't.

Think about that pain scale in your doctor's office with the smiley faces and progressively sad and miserable faces. 

Misery is a clear sign that something is seriously wrong, not that something is a healthy stage of authentic development. 

So claiming that "misery" is a healthy stage. Ooooh. That bothers me. That bothers me a lot! 
Because you know what. 

It. Simply. Isn't. True! 

The problem is that the program designers do not know what the root cause of marriage pain *actually* is.

So in a noble effort to help couples stay faithful to their vows (I wholeheartedly applaud that intention!), they want to justify "misery" as just normal part of the marriage relationship...

with the pale promise that there's light at the end of the tunnel, because (aha!) there's a fourth stage where things will get better...eventually...

(And who knows how long "misery" lasts.) 

Let's get professional here for a minute.
If you show up in the ER with abdominal pain you describe as "miserable" your physician is going to give you a shot of morphine and take some scans right away because he or she knows--as any professional would--that something is seriously wrong, not right. 
Literally no one would presume that everything is going exactly as it should be. 

So if you're ready to discover what's the real root cause of the "misery" and get some morphine quickly! Do this instead.

Remember, you are completely unavailable for misery!
You and your husband were made to love and be loved in the sex specific design of him delightfully chasing after you, pursuing you, and you receiving his wildly attractive masculine and tender love for you. 
It's 100% possible without any misery at all and it's yours to receive.