by Merle | Jul 17, 2020 | Childfree Life, Communication, Deciding, Parenting, Relationships, Single Parenting
Are you afraid your decision isn’t really a decision if you aren’t 100% sure? As I have said in The Baby Decision, 60/40 is a decision, even though you won’t call it that until, through time and reflection, you reach 80/20. Ambivalence is a normal part of the human...
by Merle | Jul 17, 2020 | Childfree Life, Communication, Deciding, Parenting, Relationships, Single Parenting
You don’t have to tell anyone yet if the decision is brand new and you are waiting for it to jell. There are some people you may never tell, such as co-workers, acquaintance, neighbors, and busybodies. If you are worried about someone’s reaction — most typically...
by Merle | Jun 10, 2017 | Childfree Life, Communication, Counseling, Parenting
Kayla Sheets, genetic counselor and hostess of Vibrant Gene, brings intelligence and playfulness to our discussion about finding the wisdom and courage to make either decision. I demonstrate my “Chair Dialogue” technique for cutting through ambivalence to reveal a...
by Merle | Jun 9, 2017 | Communication, Counseling, Fertility, Parenting
After the interview described above, Kayla facilitates a lively panel: a childfree man in his 60s, a midlife working mother of two, and the show’s own 25-year-old producer who was shocked, when she did my “Chair Dialogue” exercise, to discover a reversal...
by Merle | Jun 8, 2017 | Communication, Counseling, Parenting, Relationships
This Bustle article, “Eleven Relationship Problems that Won’t Go Away On Their Own,” rates disagreement about childbearing as the number one deal-breaker of all. Bustle provides a link to my Good Therapy article, “Should You Marry Someone Who...
by Merle | Jun 8, 2017 | Communication, Relationships
This lively online magazine, covering all aspects of love relationships, excerpted the “Tug of War” chapter from The Baby Decision. The chapter shows you how to move forward if you are disagreeing and offers practical steps for negotiating your best possible...
