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Denise O’Doherty

Denise O’Doherty

Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Drug and Alcohol Counselor, Registered Nurse

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Home » premarital counseling » Page 2

premarital counseling

April 21, 2015 | BY Denise O'Doherty

True Love

The most damaging instance of “identity theft” is when hate masquerades as love.

I see it all the time, particularly in dating relationships.

premarital counseling, couples counseling, Marriage Counseling, relationship counselingA young man “falls in love” with a woman, woos her until he has monopolized her social calendar and then weeks or months later, drops her. Once she has abandoned everything for him, he abandons her. But it was all done in the name of love. His feelings once told him it would never end, so he demanded absolute commitment and focus. But now that the feelings have changed, so apparently has his view of “love.”

A premarital couple the jackpot when the young man finally said, “Okay, now I get that loving her means I’m supposed to support her to be the best she can be”. What this means is being concerned about your partners well being (emotionally, physically, sexually and above all spiritually). The relationship comes after that.

Our primary aim in every relationship, including marriage and dating, is help each other grow and to bring out the best in each other.

If you start spending every extra moment together and the relationship doesn’t last, you’ve pulled this person from their friends and their life focus. When the relationship crashes, their life crashes and has to be completely rebuilt. Leaving someone in that condition is like mortgaging their house so you can gamble with their money to get rich. It’s reckless, it’s selfish it’s the opposite of love.

When a married woman uses sex to manipulate or humiliate her husband, that is not love. That’s taking something precious and using it as an evil weapon. When a married man considers it a betrayal if his wife has any other significant relationships that is also not love. He’s controlling her in the name of preserving some misguided sense of marital loyalty.

Love is always—always—doing what is best for the other person. Not what is best for you. Not what will make them like you or need you or want you. Love is kind, it is patient, it is strong enough to do what is right instead of giving way to the weakness of selfishness or feelings, it is self-sacrificing, it never rejoices in wrongdoing, it doesn’t insist on its own way.

Don’t be fooled by self-interest masquerading as love. Insist on love.

 

-Copied and revised from an article by Rev. Gary Thomas

Filed Under: couples counseling, Marriage Counseling, premarital counseling, relationship counseling
October 29, 2014 | BY Denise O'Doherty

The Importance of End of Life Planning: Y Collaborative Partnership

Have you ever wondered how someone would know what was important to you and gather all the necessary information regarding your personal wishes if you died? Y Collaborative represents a way of thinking to put life in order and put worry away by making decisions about issues before you are in the position to where you have to decide.

endoflifeplanning

Y collaborative gives you the tools to have meaningful conversations with family, friends, and trusted advisers about end of life decisions. Of course we all know how important it is to have a will, but what about other things affecting your life? If something were to happen to you, do you have someone who would take your pet? Does that person know who they are? Have you made financial decisions for them to care for your pet? Is there someone who knows which social / political organizations you would like to be informed of your passing? If you have no relatives in the state, would someone here know how to contact your siblings in other states? If you were to pass on, would someone have a record of your bank accounts with checking and savings account numbers, safe deposit number and key location? Sometimes loved ones are in the hospital and they have made it clear to you that they do not want certain procedures performed on them. Hospitals will routinely do some procedures that may go against someone’s personal wishes. Does someone know your last wishes? Most important, where do you keep all the information you would want someone to have?

Many people express in individual, couples and family therapy their feelings of hurt and anger when end of life issues were not handled the way they thought it should be handled for someone they loved. Hostility among siblings results when they disagreed over how a parent would want to be remembered. This can lead to years of confusion and resentment. All this negativity can be prevented.

Nancy Rust, founder of YCollaborative provides end of life planning services that gives you the peace of mind when making important decision about your well being and personal choices as you near the end of your life. YCollaborative, believes in planning ahead and making those tough end-of-life decisions in advance before they are needed in order to avoid someone else making those decisions for you. To make these important decisions, Nancy has created a workbook, that outlines all that important things we need to address so someone could easily have access to necessary information and our personal wishes. To learn more about Nancy and YCollaborative, contact her at http://www.ycollaborative.com or at info@YCollaborative.com, and by phone at 713-521-7699.

 

Filed Under: areas of practice, couples counseling, Marriage Counseling, relationship counseling
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