http://www.getonthecouch.com/files/rss/getonthecouch_onabreak.xml GetOnTheCouch.com offers peer-to-peer guidance for those who are involved in romantic relationships. Whether you are just friends, on the hunt, dating, committed, engaged, married, taking a break, separated, or divorced - The Couch can assist! Thu, 29 Jul 2010 05:10:03 -0500 en My boyfriend won't stop asking me about whether or not I am seeing other people while we're on a break. I don't know how to tell him that I need this time for myself and not for anyone else. He is constantly accusing me. I love him so much and don't want to lose him. What should I do? I need time to think but I don't feel like he's going to stick around long enough for me to decide if I'm ready to invest my energy into us again. Please help. http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1564 What does it mean to be on a break, exactly? I mean, is this the equivalent to an open relationship? Does this mean you want some cake and eat it too? I don’t understand, either we’re together or we’re not, right? http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1536 My boyfriend is going to school for about 6 months in another state far away and wants to put us on hold. We have been dating for almost five months. What am I supposed to say to that? "Hook up with everyone you want to and then come back home to my open arms?" I really care about him, but I don't know if it is a good decision. Should I just let him go and move on or stay in the relationship and get over it? http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1490 I am 18 years old and my boyfriend and I have been a couple since the beginning of high school. Now, he is going to the University of California for college and I am planning to attend the University of New York. I applied to the University of California, and I was accepted; but the University of California is not known for Fashion Design. New York University is known for Fashion Design, the subject in which I choose to major. Should I pursue my educational dreams or follow my high school sweetheart? Our relationship is strong and I don't want our relationship to end. He states that he refuses to be in a long distance relationship; and he refuses to apply to New York University. What should I do? http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1436 Linger long enough around a relationship advice message board and you are destined to see the cryptic term "sexual chemistry" used at some point. Every dating columnist or love guru ends up addressing questions about the subject. My question is simple. What in the world does "sexual chemistry" mean? Is it code for something lascivious? Or is it something even vaguer than the term itself, like whether or not you sense a spiritual connection with your lover during the act? Or maybe it is as corporeal and specific as whether or not your partner closes his or her eyes during lovemaking? Surprisingly, I have heard mostly women employ the term, and when they do it is often in the process of advancing the idea that it is important to have sex early in a relationship to see whether or not this amorphous "sexual chemistry" exists in any promising pairing. Is this a veiled way of saying that we need to find out early whether or not our partners are lousy in the sack? Or is it something more? At the heart of my question is concern borne from my inbred insecurity when it comes to all things sex. Is sexual chemistry not something that can be developed? I would hope that a patient lover could transcend most problems of sexual chemistry, if it is as basic a concept as I think it is. Feel free to address any of the sub-sections of this question about sexual chemistry. I'm certain that your answers will be all news to me. http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1420 My girlfriend and I agree on almost nothing. In fact, the lone thing that we do have in common is that we both like each other, and enjoy being in the relationship. At first, the discussions about politics were cursory and easy to laugh off. They progressively grew more heated as the weeks passed, typically to a boiling point where one of us would have to leave the room (and once the car!) to cool off. Now they are something else entirely. I suppose I have two questions. First, do you believe it is possible to be in a relationship where opinions are so at odds? I'm specifically interested in whether or not you think that political disagreements can wreck a relationship. Second, do you consider it healthy to simply avoid sharing political opinions, since it has become obvious that their discussion can only be divisive? Politics is important to both of us. Can we have a worthwhile relationship within which avoid talking about what is important us? I'm inclined to believe that holding back that way is dishonest, and potentially fatal. At the very least, it has to erode the bond. As Rob Gordon says in one of my favorite films, High Fidelity: "It's what you like; not what you are like." If that is true, then me and my missus are sunk. http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1417 In the beginning of my relationship, neither me or my partner were completely in the relationship, causing us to both kiss other people. When we both confessed our wrongs, we broke up. He spent the night with the same girl he kissed. I've confronted him about this fact and asked if he liked her; he said no; beside the fact that this other girl has been with her boyfriend for 4 years. Anyway, should I be worried that he goes back to the same girl? What does that mean? http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1355 I have been in a 9 year relationship with my boyfriend (we were high school sweethearts). Our lines of communication have deteriorated over the past couple of months and I moved out of our apartment so we could be on a break. I’m afraid to let him go because we have such an amazing history together, but right now I see us with different ideas about what we want together in the future. I don’t know if I should end it, what if I can’t find anyone else? http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1220 Well, the story is that he was cheating and I forgave him. The forgiveness is the fact and don't suggest me to escape from this relationship. But how to persuade myself not to think about it? I am trying to think that many Muslim women share their loved one with another female. How can they deal with their thoughts? Don't they imagine what their husbands are doing in bed with the other wives? Probably, they are brought up in a different way. But how? Can anybody tell me and I will try to re-organize my mind in this way ... http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1211 We were on a break for almost 6 weeks and I was with some other girls during that time. Do I have to tell my girlfriend about them? It's not her business if we were on a break right? But I think that she might break up with me AGAIN if I'm honest. http://www.getonthecouch.com/relationshipadvice/question/1109