Irina Zhuravleva

The hard truth is that roughly one out of every three romantic partnerships will face some form of infidelity — that’s the bleak part. The...

How many times have you asked for something that should have been simple and reasonable, only for it to erupt into another argument where they...

There are everyday behaviors you repeat without noticing that quietly undermine your relationships, your self-esteem, and the life you could have. These aren’t dramatic meltdowns...

If you want to recover from the wounds left by childhood trauma, you will find yourself in a confrontation between forces that feel like good...

The quickest way to undermine a relationship is to ignore what it requires to thrive. When people say, “You shouldn’t have needs in a relationship,”...

If you train someone over time to manage life without you, don’t be shocked when they eventually walk away. Commitment and fidelity mean far more...

Nearly everyone who reaches out here to the Crappy Childhood Fairy describes having been invisible or misunderstood by their caregivers. Whether through neglect, substance use,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

All right — the aim here is to help resolve the conflicts that are eroding your relationship. It may sound ambitious, but this is worth...

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

A lot of people misunderstand avoidance: they assume pulling away is a sign of strength, that detachment equals confidence. In reality, avoidant withdrawal is not...

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,...

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

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...

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...