Irina Zhuravleva

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone who seems to vanish emotionally just when you need them most? The quiet stretches feel heavier...

Some readers have voiced concern that these messages underplay the gravity of marital commitment, so let it be stated plainly: the bond of marriage deserves...

When someone you care about begins to pull away, your first instinct is often to read that distance as rejection. You start to doubt yourself...

Understanding disorganized (fearful-avoidant) attachment Disorganized attachment develops when a child’s caregiver was both a source of comfort and a source of fear — for example,...

Isn’t it maddening? Just when you finally start to feel lighter—smiling again, sleeping through the night, no longer obsessively checking their Instagram—your phone buzzes and...

People often teach that relationships should be rooted in selflessness, and there is truth in that—yet a crucial question remains: when does giving turn harmful?...

I used to fall into the habit of apologizing almost immediately, and while that might seem considerate at first glance, it often creates problems. Rushing...

It’s predictable: whenever someone offers relationship advice, there’s always that comment — “That won’t help with narcissists; empathy, kindness, and love don’t work on them.”...

Many people ask which exact method I used to soothe my nervous system and heal the lingering effects of childhood PTSD. If you’ve seen my...

A pathological narcissist can make you feel exalted one moment and then discard you the next over the smallest perceived slight, and afterward they’ll turn...

A frequent complaint from men is that women are being taught that every emotion they have must be validated. Their point is: feelings are not...

Here’s the single moment that tends to devastate someone with an avoidant attachment style — and why that same moment can feel like liberation for...

They walk away and then silence falls. You check their social feeds and see them seemingly fine — maybe even freer and happier. They drink...

Being betrayed by infidelity and dishonesty is devastating. Has this happened to you? What makes it so bewildering is that betrayal can creep into relationships...

Being ignored by someone, especially by someone who matters to you, cuts in a way that’s hard to describe. It’s not a physical blow or...

Have you ever bent over backward for a man — agreed to things you secretly opposed, dropped everything at the slightest call, or stayed silent...

When my marriage began to crumble and we started seeing a counselor together, one comment she made cut straight to the heart of things. She...

You believe he’s untroubled. You picture him walking away without a backward glance: composed, detached, already moving on as if you never mattered. His feeds...

Limerence strikes me as almost a metaphysical phenomenon; it winds itself through the wreckage of family breakdowns. It’s an obsessive, high-intensity fixation on people you...

They disappear like hoarfrost under a sudden sun, leaving you staring into an unnerving quiet, wondering whether the connection ever existed. Why do avoidant partners...

Okay, here’s the situation: everyone is fixated on spotting red flags — narcissism, avoidance, gaslighting — wondering whether their partner is secretly manipulating them. That...

Begin with a common misconception. When someone pulls away—stops replying to messages, goes quiet after a night of closeness, or physically leans back in a...

This is not love — and I’ll state that up front without beating around the bush. The intense magnetic pull, the fixation on someone who...

Así que estoy atascado/a — no puedo sacar a relucir cosas que me lastiman cuando todo va bien porque arruinaría el buen ánimo, y no puedo...