In The Us Factor, Dr. Melnick talks about a sure way to cause your partner not to trust you. It’s called “The Yes…But”, and basically it goes like this: You start out saying something positive, then follow it up with something negative. Here are a couple of examples:
“Honey, I really liked the way you paid the bills this month, but I like to pay the car payment before I pay the credit card bill”.
Or “You did a great job helping little Jimmy with his homework tonight, but I wish you didn’t work so much so you could help him every night”.
Do you see how the second half of the sentence negates the first half? When you talk like that to someone, and if it gets to be a habit, the other person will become “in tune” to listening to the negative part, and not even hear the positive. They’ll feel that they are being manipulated, and a lot of time that’s true.
Some people feel that they need to start a difficult conversation with a positive statement, so that they don’t let the other person down too hard:
“You’re really a good person, but I can’t live with you anymore”. Ouch!
One way a couple can ease themselves into uncomfortable discussions is to prepare the ground. Ask your partner when they’ll be willing to set down and talk about a concern you have. Don’t surprise them with it.
In order to make a relationship work, you need to separate the good from the bad, or they’ll get mixed up. If you like the way your spouse did something, tell them. “I really like how you arranged the living room furniture”. If you don’t like it, then say “I don’t really like the furniture this way. Can we sit down and talk about it?”
Be prepared to give examples, but don’t blame or shame. Always speak with compassion and use “I feel” statements, and things will go much better. And remember – keep the positive and the negative separate!
Filed under Dr. Joseph Melnick, Marriage, Marriage Tips, Relationship habits, The Us Factor Review 
One of the relationship habits that Dr. Joseph Melnick talks about The Us Factor is “characterizations”. Characterizing someone means “typecasting” them in a certain kind of role, and not allowing them to change. The example Dr. Melnick uses is how child actors are typecast as child actors, and it’s really hard for them to break out of that role. Once you see them a certain way, it’s hard to imagine them playing any other role. Bob Denver comes to mind to me (I know, I’m dating myself, but I’m sure some of you remember!) Once he had the role of Gilligan, it’s hard to see him in any other role, especially a serious one. He was typecast as Gilligan.
One of the things that we do as couples is typecast our husband or wife and not look at them as they are today. When was the last time you really looked at or heard your partner? That may sound silly, but I’ve noticed that unless I consciously make an effort to appreciate my wife, it’s easy to just go along, doing my daily things, and not really pay much attention to her.
Ecclesiastes 8:9
Recently, I was reading the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible, and it struck me that this wasn’t the depressing, hopeless book that I thought it was in the past. I’d always kind of ignored it because I thought it was kind of a downer, really (sorry God!) However, as I read through it last month, I stumbled on the following verse:
Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.
Now, I’m not exactly sure what this verse is supposed to mean, but the way I took it was just this: I’m to enjoy my wife, and my life, and to do to the best of my ability what God has given me to do. When I started thinking about it, I realized that I complain a lot, and don’t find joy in what God has given me. It helped me to start looking at Julie in a new way, in a way that I hadn’t seen her since we first met. I started noticing some things that attracted me to her that I’d been overlooking lately. Like her eyes – she has the most incredible eyes in the world, kind of a clear-gray-blue color that is absolutely breathtaking. Well, a few weeks ago I really took a close look at those eyes again, and thought “Wow! What a beautiful woman God has given me to share my life with!”
People Change
In the Us Factor, Dr. Melnick encourages us to realize that our partner is changing every day, and to not respond to your partner as they were 10 years ago – it’s not only wrong to do, it’s also inaccurate. People change. He encourages us to ask ourselves “How is my partner different today?” and notice what is different about them. Then, ask them questions about the things that you notice that are different. I think this is a great thing to try, and a good way to add some interest to your marriage again. Try it!
Filed under Dr. Joseph Melnick, Marriage, Relationship habits
- One of the things that Dr. Melnick talks about in the Us Factor is staying on your own side of the line, or as our counselor says, staying on your own side of the street. Here’s an example of what this means, taken from our life just this morning!
One thing Matt and I have learned is how to stay off each other’s side of the street. Let me explain.
This morning I was going to go for a walk and was deciding if I should take my cell phone, our constantly ringing business line. I asked my honey when he was going to shower because if he wasn’t going to until I came back, he could answer the phone, otherwise it was coming with me. He said “right away” and I said “ok I will take my phone”. Then (pay attention here) he said “well I can wait until you get back and answer your phone.”
Now that all sounds like he’s being kind, right? Wrong. I didn’t ask him to make my decision, I just needed facts so I could make it. If I decided I really didn’t want to take my phone, I would have then asked him (hopefully as I struggle with being passive/aggressive!!!) if he would mind waiting. His telling me to go was being on my side of the street and I felt like I was being parented.
Thankfully, we backed up, laughed and I asked him if he wouldn’t mind waiting. And he graciously agreed. He also could have asked me if I wanted him to wait, still my decision. We’re all adults here!
Filed under Dr. Joseph Melnick, Marriage, Marriage Tips, Relationship habits, The Us Factor Review
As we work through the Us Factor Program, I thought it would be useful to write a little review of the Workbook, so you know what that particular piece of the program is like.
The workbook is 232 pages, and it contains recaps or summaries of every one of the DVD sessions. It shows pictures of the different couples that are featured in the session, and it has a transcript of the dialogue between them. In addition, it also summarizes Dr. Melnick’s advice on the particular subject.
The one thing that the workbook has that the DVD’s don’t have is what he calls “Awareness Exercises”. At the end of most sections is a little exercise for the couple to do so they can internalize the lesson.
For example, there is a section called “Top Dog – Underdog” that concerns two roles that partners take in a relationship. One partner takes on the role of the organizer, the planner, the one who makes things happen. This is the “top dog”, the responsible one who focuses on shoulds and should nots, the rule maker. The other partner is the Underdog – the one who doesn’t follow the rules and wants quick fun and satisfaction.
The lesson in the workbook describes this kind of behavior, it shows a transcript of a couple acting this out, and has an awareness exercise. In the exercise, the couple sits across from each other, and they have a conversation in which one becomes the “top dog” and the other becomes the “underdog”. The top dog talks about the “shoulds” and “should nots” and stays primarily focused on the future. The underdog talks about the “I wants” and the “let’s do’s” and focuses mainly on the present. Once you’ve had the conversation for a little while, you talk about how it feels to be in that role.
Then, you reverse the roles and have a conversation in the opposite role, and after that discuss what it was like to reverse the roles.
I really like this part of the workbook, because it gives you a chance to “role play” and see how the other person feels.
It almost seems to me that you could just go through the workbook and not have to watch the DVD’s except for one very important thing: it’s good to see the couples interact in person, as it helps you to relate to what’s going on. Plus, Dr. Melnick goes into more detail in the DVD lesson. Therefore, I think it’s important while going through The Us Factor to follow his instructions, that is to watch the DVD, then go through that section of the workbook that pertains to the DVD, doing the awareness exercises as you encounter them.
