It is such a common demand from a spouse during a marital crisis:  “I need space!  You just need to give me space!” Yet here I am, telling you to connect with your spouse, to rebuild the broken connection that led to the crisis.

Things hit a bad spot in your marriage… and your spouse isn’t sure about staying or leaving the marriage.  Sure, it may have been a relationship issue, but you may be feeling blamed. It’s pretty common to go looking for the “bad guy” in any situation....

What do you do when you feel like giving up, like nothing you do is making a difference?  Or when your spouse says you are trying to hard, or acting strange?  Or when you have dragged your spouse to retreats, therapy, workshops… and at every turn,

Relationships of any depth and any magnitude are going to hit up against conflict.  It is just the nature of being close to someone.  You are going to have differences that emerge.  It is not a  question of if, but when those differences appear.

In the last episode, I answered questions about infidelity and marriage.  Well, I started answering questions.  Since I started asking for your questions, I have received quite a few about affairs and infidelity.  So,

Someone cheated.  What now?  Can a marriage survive infidelity, either physical or emotional?  Can a relationship recover after an affair? Over the past while, I have been answering listener questions (you can submit by emailing here). And this week,

Is separation the best scenario for saving a marriage? No.  Many times, a separation ends up being a "dress rehearsal for divorce."  Living separately creates patterns of separation.  Connection becomes more difficult. But is it all for naught?

For awhile, I have been answering listener-submitted questions, and continue to do so in this episode (if YOU want to ask a question, send it to podcast@savethemarriage.com). This week, I respond to a couple of questions about a spouse's indifference ...

Jared was a bit more pointed in his question.  But to be fair, I HAVE been asking for people to submit questions.  And he did. He told me straight up, "You tell me to connect with my spouse.  Well, I've been trying to do that.

"I need some encouragement," the note ended.  The writer is a listener of my podcast and admitted the hard work that has gone into trying to save his marriage. At the same time, another listener asked about whether this effort -- the work to save her ...