EmPowered Couples with The Freemans

So here you are having a conversation with your partner, then with the slightest hint of emotion arising, they shutdown. They might stop talking altogether or say "I'm not talking about this, move on" or even "get off my back". This could be because you are trying to have an important conversation with them or it can be out of the blue. Either way, when your partner shuts down, you feel isolated, left out in the cold, or controlled because they are dictating when certain topics can be talked about. When this happens a few times you get frustrated because nothing seems to change and you are unable to make any progress together when your partner is totally unwilling to open up and let you in. Hope is not lost (Aaron can vouch for that)! In this episode you will understand why this happens for your partner, as well as 3 things you can do differently to keep this pattern from happening. If you use these 3 things you will feel you can actually make progress in the relationship and understand more about each other's needs. About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources For Your Relationship: Pre-order our newest book, The Argument Hangover, and get over $200 of free bonus gifts (like the mini course)! Register for The Couples Workshop- LIVE event streamed right to your home

Ever have those times in your relationship where things are going great, and then BAM... something sabotages it. You might not have identified it as sabotage, but that's often what it is and it shows up as a pattern from your past! Sabotaging behaviors keep you and your partner from experiencing: more love, more joy, more connection, more intimacy and more fulfillment together. So yea, sabotage is no fun. In this episode, we dive into how emotional events from either your upbringing or past relationships can/is impacting your relationship now. But here's what's taking this to the next level….we also dive into how those past events lead to subtle forms of sabotaging behavior. Before you think, "oh, I don't do anything sabotaging," take a listen and hear some behaviors that you might not have noticed before, that could be keeping your relationship in the same place rather than growing. This is a powerful episode for you to reflect on individually and discuss together. Plus you will get a process to identify what these patterns are, where they come from, and what to do to change them. About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources For Your Relationship: Join the 21 Day Relationship Upgrade starting next week! All you have to do is order a FREE hard copy of our book, then you get access to the private group with the 21 day group and activities coming up. Register for The Couples Workshop- LIVE-streamed to your home

Real talk....we had a 3 hour conversation this weekend about the possibility of ending our partnership. Not because we haven't been "happy" or that we don't love each other anymore... but because we haven't been living in our full potential as individuals or as a couple. We have high standards for what kind of partnership we're capable of and that's what we invite you into. So we shared openly and candidly with each other about our disappointments, frustrations, and doubts. We used our skills to listen and hold space for each other. Which led to a MASSIVE triumph and feeling more connected and loved than ever. There's too much to tell about this here, so we recorded an entire podcast episode on it. Not only do we share transparently about this deep and vulnerable conversation, but we share with you a COMPLETELY different way of "ending" the relationship so you can truly evolve as a couple. It's something you never will have heard before and many couples never do... About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources For Your Relationship: Get $40 OFF Early Bird tickets for the LIVE Couples Workshop on Oct 10th, 2020 (only lasts until Sept 11th, 2020 - our anniversary!) Use code: "podcast40" at checkout. Pre-order our newest book, The Argument Hangover, and get over $200 of free bonus gifts.

If you are like Aaron and had a loving upbringing with lots of support from your parents, that means you would be better set up for a strong relationship rather than if you were like Jocelyn and had your parents go through a divorce or tough upbringing right? NOPE! Did you ever think that whatever your past upbringing, it could be what is causing any hiccups in your current relationship? In this episode will hear each of our stories about how we grew up and how Aaron was limited in being able to express and feel love by not seeing examples of emotion and how to handle any conflicts growing up. While Jocelyn's story is one about feeling she had to be the rescuer and felt there needed to be drama to feel that her partner cared about her. Whatever your past upbringing, you are not just interacting with who your partner is right now today, but you are being influenced by your own past examples that are most likely not in the best service of your relationship. This episode is about you bringing awareness into just what that unconscious behavior and impact might be. About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources For Your Relationship: Get $40 OFF Early Bird tickets for the LIVE Couples Workshop on Oct 10th, 2020 (only lasts until Sept 11th, 2020 - our anniversary!) Use code: "podcast40" at checkout. Pre-order our newest book, The Argument Hangover, and get over $200 of free bonus gifts.

You can't get 'down' enough or have a bad enough attitude to positively influence your partner. You just can't; and we prove it to you today! This episode will light a fire in YOU, and shift a destructive belief you might have about how to truly influence your partner to change. Sure, you could get your partner to be "compliant" because of your bad attitude and they just want to succumb to make you happy or get you off their back. But that's not a recipe for lasting love and connection. Instead, you're going to hear a powerful, counterintuitive approach to motivating and positively influencing your partner to shift their attitude or behavior. About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources for you: Pre-order The Argument Hangover and get $200 of bonus gifts, including a conflict resolution course Looking for immediate and personal guidance? Schedule a Relationship Breakthrough Session Follow us on Instagram

This is one of the truest quotes we've ever heard: "There isn't anything that anyone wants for any other reason than they believe that they will feel better in the having of it." So everything you do in life is all for this one reason-- to feel better! The problem is that this puts your experience of life based on things you don't have 100% control over. It gets even worse for your relationship if you rely on your partner's mood, energy, or actions to make you feel good. This puts pressure, stress, and overwhelm on your partner as well as you in a passive and reactive state within your relationship. Nothing good comes from that! In this episode you get the proactive and active (in the moment) ways to take control of your emotional and mental health. This way you don't rely on your partner but be able to positively influence each other and support the health of your relationship! About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources For Your Relationship: Pre-order our newest book, The Argument Hangover, and get over $200 of free bonus gifts. The NOW available free mini course will Transform your conflicts Give you power over emotional triggers Set you up to fight smarter Allow you to repair from conflicts faster

Listening is not a passive action! Listening is actually an intentional action. You might not recognize the difference between when you're listening from your EGO vs your HEART. In this podcast, we're going to break down the difference- how it sounds, how it feels to you, and how it feels to your partner. None of us were really taught how to LISTEN, which can leave your partner not feeling truly understood. Sure, you might have HEARD them, but did you TRULY listen. You'll find out how to know. This episode is critical for all couples to listen to and will help you connect at deeper, more profound levels than you've ever imagined. About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources For Your Relationship: Pre-order our newest book, The Argument Hangover, and get over $200 of free bonus gifts. To learn more about the last 2 spots for the group coaching journey starting soon, Upgrade Your Partnership, DM us on Instagram.

Have you ever found yourself or your partner avoiding direct or clear communication, evading problems, fearing intimacy or competition, making excuses, blaming, playing the victim, feigning compliance with requests, being sarcastic, or hiding anger? All of these behaviors describe being passive aggressive! You might not have thought of this at first, but there are many couples that are experiencing this right now in their marriage. This topic even comes from patterns we saw in our couples group, so we put up a poll, and this topic was voted on to be this week's topic. In this episode you will take away: How to recognize the passive aggressive patterns The 3 reasons why this happens within a relationship 4 things that could be missing so that you do not do not have this pattern start or continue in your own marriage. About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources For Your Relationship: Get 50% OFF The Couples Workshop (Home Edition) to enhance your communication skills together. Subscribe and watch The Empowered Couples Show Live on YouTube Follow us on Instagram

Do you find that you are physically together with your partner more than ever, yet still feeling disconnected? How could this be right? Well, connection isn't just about proximity. Connection also isn't something that you can just count on always being there. It takes attention and intention just like anything in life that you want to grow. Today's topic came from multiple messages that we received within one hour. One of the questions saying: "What to do when you get disconnected? We are really intense, when we are close we are best friends. But sometimes we get into a cycle of and it's hard to get out of being disconnected. It gets bad enough that we feel like pushing the wedding away...this is not what we want, we want to be partners and make it work" We also did the drawing for the podcast reviews and the winner is…. Betty on Instagram. So Betty please message us on IG so we can get your address to send your gift! In this podcast episode you will take away: What really fuels the feeling of connection in your relationship What is missing when you feel disconnected 4 ways to grow and deepen your connection About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources For Your Relationship: We announced our newest book last Friday and the title is... THE ARGUMENT HANGOVER! 📚 Pre Order your copy of TheArgumentHangover.com now and claim these bonuses: (FREE Mini course, Debrief An Argument Workbook, and FREE event ticket for Valentines Day)📚 Subscribe and watch The Empowered Couples Show Live on YouTube Follow us on Instagram

Trust is the feeling of: "you have my back". When trust is high in any relationship you can feel that you can fly, fail, and yet still be accepted and loved by your partner. This is so foundational for a healthy, happy relationship that wants to be able to grow. When trust has been broken, whether from a big or small event, it harbors doubt, resentment, and suspicion in the relationship. Today's topic came from several DM's and IG poll votes, plus a financial trust question from Teresa: "After repeat offenses running the gamut of petty to severe in nature on occasion; how do you rebuild trust in a real way? I am between being codependent in needing to trust deeply and frustrated because I feel like I never can 100% trust because of the continued offenses and boundary crossing." One other question was: "It was about a promise of not doing something, then doing it and lying about it to my face….multiple times. So broken promises/outright lies/secrets. How to make amends and be consistent with everything?" Thank you everyone for the questions and even Alicia from the book club, being honest about wanting to rebuild trust. Today from this episode you'll takeaway: What trust really means within your relationship The major effects a lack of trust can have Why you or your partner would break a promise or even lie 4 ways to rebuild trust in your partner and the relationship. About Us: We're The Freemans, your go-to couple for authentic and actionable relationship advice. Send us your relationship questions for the show with a DM on Instagram. As you listen to the episode, tag us on an IG story and let us know what you loved. Resources For Your Relationship: Get 50% OFF The Couples Workshop (Home Edition) to enhance your communication skills together Subscribe and watch The Empowered Couples Show Live on YouTube Follow us on Instagram