🗣️ 4 Ways to Have Difficult Conversations During the Holidays

👎 New Quiz: Are Your Friends Hurting your Marriage?

🛡️ How Practicing Gratitude Can Strengthen Relationships 

💔 I Can’t Forgive My Spouse

😞 What to Do When You Don’t Feel Thankful on Thanksgiving

how to build empathy in marriage

Have you ever whipped up your favorite batch of homemade cookies to find out in the first bite that you left out that one key ingredient that makes all the difference? Empathy is that key ingredient to a great recipe for a healthy marriage that you don’t want to forget.

A large body of research tells us the practice of empathy is essential to a thriving, happy, healthy marriage. However, many people reduce the idea of empathy to it being just “touchy-feely” or something that some people are born having, but others not so much.

Here are some steps for couples to take to building empathy:

☑️ Listen.
Not to judge. Not to fix. And not even to retort. Listen simply to grasp what your spouse is feeling with as much accuracy as possible.

☑️ Validate.
You may listen and think, Gee, I’d never get so riled up (or excited, or sad) over this. Avoid judging your spouse’s feelings based on how you would respond in the same situation. Instead, acknowledge to yourself that these are their feelings (and not yours).

☑️ Share.
Namely, your spouse’s emotional response. This may take some conscious effort on your part, especially if they are emotionally responsive to a situation in a way you wouldn’t. Truly put yourself in their shoes.

☑️ Act.
Take what you’ve come to understand from the previous steps and respond in compassion.

☑️ Practice vulnerability.
Empathy is best built when both people in the marriage open up about situations, feelings, and thoughts they simply want the other to better understand.

Empathy is an all-important ingredient for a healthy marriage, but building it takes time.

5 things every happily married couple does every day

Everyone wants a happy marriage. Not everyone makes it there. How do I know if I have a healthy marriage? What is the secret to a successful marriage? What formula makes a marriage last? How can my marriage just be happier?

How do I get from Point A in my marriage to Point B?

Data has demystified marriage. Research has turned so-called secrets into strategies. We now have data on the five things happily married people do every single day. The list is out. The research is from many sources, conducted in various ways, and covers a multitude of marital territory. The suggested daily habits are incredibly consistent and reliable. Study after study. List after list.