Turning Challenge Into Strength
It could have gone much worse. Travel to the in-laws is commonly stressful for couples. One partner in their childhood home with their...
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Building Stronger Relationships for a Better World
Carolyn Sharp
- 4 min
Do you know when it is time to get to work?
As a coach, I get to work with couples wanting to prevent problems and as a therapist, I work with couples who haven’t done so and are...
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
Do You Know What You Are Really Fighting About??
What keeps you stuck in a fight? You know the experience, you start a conversation to get on the same page with your partner about the...
Carolyn Sharp
- 5 min
What Are The Three Biggest Fights ALL Couples Have?
(photo shows a gay couple wearing pajamas sitting on a bed, facing away from each other, looking sad.) Every relationship is different....
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
What's Your Purpose?
Do you know the purpose of your relationship? Is that a strange question? Many couples get really puzzled when I ask them that question,...
Carolyn Sharp
- 4 min
Take Your Trash Out: How to Clean Out and Let Go of Old Injuries Dragging You Around:
Are you dragging around issues with you that come up every fight? Do you get reminded of mistakes you made months and years ago, even...
Carolyn Sharp
- 5 min
Spring Clean Your Relationship!
Caption: Photo of Carolyn, her husband and their two dogs, standing under a tree full of Spring Blossoms. It’s pouring rain one day and...
Carolyn Sharp
- 7 min
Making Mistakes is the Key to Any Healthy Relationship.
That title sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Yet, we all make hundreds of mistakes a day. From typos, spilled milk, accidents, lost keys,...
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
The Power Of Agreements To Support Us
(Image: Carolyn and her husband cross country skiing in Washington.) I bet like you, our falling in love was easy and joyful. We were...
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
Winter Storms Bring Promise
Winter is a season of recovery and preparation. -Paul Theroux There was a record snowstorm here in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains...
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
Valentine’s Day: All Romance or All Hype and Pressure?
When February 14th is rolling around… Some feel excited and giddy…. Others feel dread. Or irritation. Or pressure. It’s a loaded holiday....
Carolyn Sharp
- 1 min
Now on Youtube! No More Walking Dead: Waking Your Relationship Back Up from the Pandemic
Last night I achieved a feat of going live on three different platforms at once and my computer did not explode! I did do it sideways on...
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
The Power of Connection
“We were designed to connect with other people.” -Vivek Murthy One of the things I am talking most about with clients right now is the...
Carolyn Sharp
- 2 min
Reaching Toward What is Next
The pleas to ‘get back to normal’ are a common refrain these days. But as the beautiful poet Amanda Gorman reminds us, the opportunity...
Carolyn Sharp
- 4 min
Looking Forward, with care
"Life is not perfect. It never will be. You just have to make the very best of it, and you have to open your heart to what the world can...
Carolyn Sharp
- 2 min
Welcoming Client Back to My Office!
The first signs of spring are starting to peak out, and with them, the tiniest glimmers of a transition away from the last year. On March...
Carolyn Sharp
- 2 min
Opening Our Eyes For Truth
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."-James Baldwin This quote has many meanings,...
Carolyn Sharp
- 5 min
The Benefits of Speaking Up in Quarantine and Beyond.
Seattle-based PACT Therapist, Carolyn Sharp shares techniques couples in quarantine can use to resolve conflict.
Carolyn Sharp
- 5 min
How to Survive and Thrive Through the Coronavirus Quarantine: Turning Cabin Fever Into Relationship
How to protect the health of your relationship long past COVID-19.
Carolyn Sharp
- 1 min
Flattening the Curve Without Letting Your Relationship Be Flattened in the Process:
I spent some time with my colleague Jason Brand, LCSW in a Facebook Live on April 6th talking about what couples are struggling with...
Carolyn Sharp
- 2 min
What’s the deal with those rolling chairs? Why can’t we sit on the couch?
One of the first things many couples ask upon first meeting me, is: “What is the deal with these crazy rolling chairs you’ve got?” As a...
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
The Ghosts of Injuries Past
We all know the scene: a couple begins discussing a current challenge for them and are quickly down the rabbit hole of past injuries....
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
Preparing for your first couples therapy session.
Congratulations! You’ve taken the first, most difficult step in getting support for your relationship by seeking couples therapy. It is a...
Carolyn Sharp
- 2 min
Desire over dishes
How to focus your attention where it has the greatest benefit… “It’s hard to experience desire when you’re weighted down by...
Carolyn Sharp
- 5 min
Thinking About Polyamory? Is Consensual Nonmonogamy Healthy for Your Relationship?
Here is a blog post I wrote for the PACT Institute Website: By Carolyn Sharp, LICSW PACT Level 3 Therapist, PACT Ambassador...
Carolyn Sharp
- 1 min
The Benefits of a Pre-Commitment Retreat for Committed Couples
Many folks have reached to ask whether our one-day pre-commitment retreat is appropriate for couples already committed for the long haul....
Carolyn Sharp
- 2 min
Congratulations, you’re engaged!….Now What?!
For newly engaged couples, there is the thrill of the life ahead. Folks are in bliss after finding their life partner—as they should...
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
Valentine’s Day: Hype, Pressure and Opportunity
There’s a wide variation of opinions about Valentine’s Day and its benefits. Some people look forward to the holiday as a means to...
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
Becoming Unlazy: You Can Cultivate the Relationship You Want
by Sara Slater, LICSW My favorite bit of relationship advice so far this new year: “don’t be relationally lazy.” The words of respected...
Carolyn Sharp
- 1 min
Compassion and Why It Matters
Who among us doesn’t want to feel loved? —STAN TATKIN Compassion. Something the world can certainly use more of these days. How can we...
Carolyn Sharp
- 5 min
Carolyn & Sara Interview Each Other, Part 2.
In the second half of our interview, Sara and Carolyn responded to questions we have received from colleagues, folks signed up and our...
Carolyn Sharp
- 4 min
That Perfect Gift: Investing In Your Relationship
This holiday season, how have you invested in your relationship? by Sara Slater, LICSW Shopping in crowds? Wrapping like a maniac?...
Carolyn Sharp
- 2 min
When is it OK to talk about that nail?
Communication Differences: This video is one of my favorites about relationships. Hilarious because it is absolutely true-I think many of...
Carolyn Sharp
- 3 min
Why Couples Retreats?
As we have shared with couples in our practices that we are beginning to offer retreats, a number have asked what prompted this. Well,...
Carolyn Sharp
- 1 min
Important Links
We will add resources here that we think will be helpful to you here: The PACT Institute website has information about Stan Tatkin, his...
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