Solving Disconnection & Creating Connected Relationships (for Couples & Parents)
Is it possible to solve the disconnection issues in your relationship? This podcast will explore how to solve it, but here's a hint: it takes ongoing work. The good news is that when we know how to have a harmonious and connected relationship, it feels good and can motivate us to keep doing it. This podcast is for couples and parents. We explore how to help you have a strong relationship with your partner and your kids if you have them. Jason A. Polk is a relationship therapist and a Clini-Coach® based in Denver, CO. He loves helping couples have more connection through this podcast and individualized marriage retreats and couples intensives. He's a father of two young daughters and has helped couples for over ten years. He believes we can simultaneously have a healthy relationship and be great parents.
Episodes
Couples Therapist and coach Jason Polk explains how retaliation in relationships—making a partner feel bad because they made you feel bad—creates a negative pattern that keeps couples disconnected.
He argues retaliation doesn’t build closeness, protect from hurt, or effectively teach, and can instead foster resentment, fear, and lead to controlling dynamics such as an “authoritarian dictator” stance met by a passive...
Every couple disagrees — the real question is how you handle it.
In this episode, therapist and relationship coach Jason Polk shares practical communication tools he's developed over 10+ years of working exclusively with couples, drawing on the work of Terry Real and Stan Tatkin.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- Why self-regulation is the single most important communication skill
- The difference between spea...
Discernment Counseling: Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Solving Disconnection Podcast with Jason Polk
Guest: Lana Isaacson, Licensed Couples Therapist (CO & MA), Certified EFT Therapist
Episode Summary
Jason and Lana explore discernment counseling — a short-term, evidence-based process designed for couples on the brink of divorce or separation, where one partner is "leaning out" and the other is "leanin...
Guest: Athena McCullough, LPC, LMFT
When families are caught in high-conflict divorce—battling in courtrooms and struggling to communicate—Athena McCullough steps in. She's a licensed marriage and family therapist who specializes in the complex intersection of family therapy and the legal system.
What We Cover
In this conversation, Athena shares her expertise on helping families navigate h...
Summary:
Jason shares five habits healthy couples avoid to maintain strong, connected relationships.
The Five Habits to Avoid:
- Waking each other up to talk when upset—sleep first, discuss later.
- Assuming your partner is trying to upset you—differences aren’t disrespect.
- Expecting your partner to fix your anxiety—self-regulation is key.
- Using distance or avoidance to calm anxiety—space is healthy only if it leads ...
Episode Summary: In this episode, Jason Polk, a couples therapist with over 10 years of experience, shares the six key signs that indicate it might be time to seek couples therapy. He explains why seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness, and offers practical examples and personal insights.
Six Signs It's Time for Couples Therapy:
- Constant Fighting: Recurring arguments over both small and big issues, ...
Show Notes: Understanding Narcissism in Relationships
Host: Jason Polk, Couples Therapist & Agency Owner
Episode Overview: In this episode, Jason Polk explores the complex topic of narcissism and its impact on relationships. He breaks down what it means to be a narcissist, the origins of narcissistic behavior, and how these patterns affect both partners and families.
Key Topics Covered:
- Jason's definition o...
Jason Polk, a seasoned therapist specializing in couples therapy, hosts Brandon Schwartz, LCSW, from Colorado Relationship Recovery on the podcast.
Brandon shares his journey of becoming a therapist, influenced by overcoming bullying, depression, and a transformative experience with his own therapist in middle school.
He discusses his educational path, shifting from a desire to join the Marines to pursuing psycholog...
In this episode of 'Solving Disconnection and Creating Connected Relationships for Couples and Parents,' therapist and coach Jason Polk delves into the importance of repair in relationships, why it's challenging, and how to effectively navigate it. Polk explains the concept of repair as restoring relationships after conflicts and discusses two main barriers: ego and lack of skills. He shares personal ...
In this episode of 'Solving Disconnection and Creating Connected Relationships for Couples and Parents,' Jason Polk, a therapist and coach with over 10 years of experience, discusses the financial and emotional costs of marriage counseling versus divorce.
Jason highlights the expense and emotional toll of contested divorces, which can range from $10,000 to $15,000, compared to the relatively lower cost of ...
Understanding Cheating: Definitions, Impacts, and Pathways to Healing
In this episode of 'Solving Disconnection and Creating Connected Relationships for Couples and Parents,' therapist and coach Jason Polk explores the complex topic of cheating.
He delves into the different forms of infidelity, including financial and emotional cheating, and emphasizes the importance of explicit agreements between partners....
Jason explores the purpose of marriage beyond initial infatuation and love chemicals.
He explains that marriage is an essential emotional refuge and economic partnership, providing a place for vulnerability, acceptance, and the sharing of resources.
Jason discusses typical relationship dynamics like the pursue-withdraw cycle and how past experiences shape our partner interactions.
He emphasizes the importance of pri...
In this episode, Jason shares ten actionable tips to help couples maintain harmony, reduce disharmony, and effectively repair their relationships.
The tips are structured within a framework that includes understanding the phases of harmony, disharmony, and repair.
Key points include connecting with your partner through daily gestures, understanding and navigating attachment dynamics, using timeouts to prevent confli...
In this episode, Dr. Laura Louis, a seasoned couples therapist, shares her insights and experiences from her 20-year career.
She discusses the challenges and joys of working with couples, the importance of effective communication, and how vulnerability and emotional intimacy play crucial roles in relationships.
Dr. Laura also discusses common issues such as the negative sentiment override, the im...
Sex can be a powerful way to connect, but for many men, it's often the only way they're taught to access vulnerability and emotional closeness.
This can create a rub, especially when partners need emotional intimacy to feel open to physical intimacy.
In this blog, we break down the dynamics of intimacy using the metaphor of a wedding cake.
Couples thrive when they intentionally build each layer tie...
Do you two feel like roommates? Or cost-sharing-associates?
Have you and your partner drifted into feeling more like roommates than lovers?
Just co-parents?
Or “cost-sharing-associates?”
It’s easy for the initial spark to dim as time passes, but rekindling it is possible.
This quick episode talks about how to reconnect and feel love again.
I also share why you two have drifted apart, how to break the cycle of disconnectio...
This episode discusses functional, psychological boundaries and what is not.
What are not functional boundaries? They are if we are behind walls or boundaryless.
We will define that and what physiological boundary violations are.
This will also encourage you to reflect on your boundaries as well.
Here's the link to the chart I mentioned.
You can learn more about...
Mess is one of the content issues that come up in couples therapy.
If this is an issue for you, you can check out what you can do on your side of the relationship and what you two can do as a team.
Link to the Fair Play Card Deck.
Click here to read the blog this episode was inspired by: Couples Counseling and Your Messy Partner.
Is your marriage or relationship on the brink?
Here are four things you can do to save your marriage.
Essentially, there needs to be something different and not more of the same.
These four things are usually the most common complaints partners have.
Check it out!
Click to learn more about our couples therapy agency in Denver, Colorado.
This episode might be of interest to those of you who may be on the brink of divorce or breakup, for those who don't have a lot of time, and for those who harbor a lot of resentment.
In this episode, I share how I define couples' intensives and why they are popular in my practice.
Click here for more information about couples intensives.
Click here to set up a free couples inte...
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