Irina Zhuravleva

All right — here’s a very simple way to approach relationship advice: ask yourself one question. Do you feel stuck? Does it seem like no...

There’s a pattern that comes from trauma where people move through life without ever truly committing to anything long-term — relationships, careers, communities, even the...

Okay — how can you tell if someone is a narcissist or simply an avoidantly attached person, and what should you do if you’re in...

Believe me from hard-won experience: destroying a marriage is almost always much easier than rebuilding one. It takes far less effort to let a relationship...

You’re having an ordinary conversation and someone drops a small comment — “don’t be so sensitive,” “you’re overreacting,” or the one that lands like a...

Growing up with trauma affects each person differently, yet the patterns of symptoms that can surface later in life are strikingly similar for many of...

About 30% of couples — whether dating or married — report experiencing some form of infidelity, and that number only reflects what’s been disclosed. After...

Among the warning signs I’ve learned to spot, one in particular always makes my alarm bells ring: when an adult claims they never want to...

Even rats become obsessed when rewards and care are repeatedly mixed with cruelty and isolation, so it’s not surprising that people raised with trauma often...

A few days ago a post explored how shutting down or stonewalling during an argument can leave a partner feeling unheard, isolated, and even abandoned,...

Nothing scrambles your mind or wounds you more than trying to maintain any kind of relationship with someone who behaves narcissistically — the gaslighting, the...

My fear of being left in the future led me to abandon my own needs in the here and now. I constantly put everyone else...

If the word “space” keeps popping up in your relationships, this material is aimed at you. What people commonly lump together as avoidant attachment is...

Today my aim is to transform how you handle conflict in your close relationships. We’re not talking about “punching” fights away — rather, we’re going...

One night I was called into the hospital and found a man suffering a massive heart attack. We fought to save him for a long...

The universe keeps a harsh equilibrium. Every deed invites a counterforce. Every ounce of emotional investment you give to someone can come with a cost....

“Marriages die in the conversations that never happen” — that line, attributed to Dr. John Gutman who has examined thousands of couples, sums up a...

Nobody can truly love you well if you haven’t become aware of the repeating patterns you keep slipping into. Consider this: have you ever been...

I’m about to say something that will make 99 percent of women furious — ready? Sometimes it’s acceptable for a man to say, “I’m sorry...

Are there other people-pleasers out there who recognize this pattern — where you can’t bring up feeling alone or neglected on the good days because...

Growing up in an environment marked by emotional neglect or cruelty trains your nervous system to respond by withdrawing. You stop crying. You stop protesting....

Have you ever watched an avoidant partner disappear the moment things start to deepen, only to reappear weeks or months later as if nothing happened?...

Why do avoidant partners act with contempt toward you? That question doesn’t just float through your mind — it lands hard in your chest because...

They vanished without a word three months ago — no farewell, no explanation, just silence. Then, in the small hours last night, at 2:08 a.m.,...