From Job Stress to Family Connection

• Is it difficult for you sometimes at night to be fully present and calm when your mate or your kids want to talk with you (because you’ve got work stress and unfinished business racing through your mind)?
• Do you ever find yourself becoming impatient or saying “Get to the point already” right at the moment when your loved ones need you to be an excellent, patient listener?
• Do you sometimes get into an argument with your long-term partner or your kids because they accuse you of not caring or not listening, when in fact you’re just exhausted from the pressures of your job?

“You are not alone,” says Leonard Felder, Ph.D., author of WAKE UP OR BREAK UP; 8 Crucial Steps to Strengthening Your Relationship (Rodale, 2005). Felder has been counseling couples for over 20 years and he has found, “Those first few minutes when you walk in the door and get bombarded by screaming kids, an exhausted partner, or a series of domestic problems, are a “make-or-break moment” for most relationships. If you can find quick, effective ways to shift from the pressures of the work-day so you can be fully present with your loved ones, your home life will be a lot less argumentative and a lot more loving.”