Doug shares how to recover and heal from a fight. He unpacks the 5-step process for healing which includes sharing how you felt during the fight, describing your perception of what happened during the fight, sharing what escalated the interaction for you, taking responsibility, and coming up with constructive plans. Mary & Joe - Just minutes ago, my husband came up to me and shared that he wants to be intimate more frequently, but I am content with things the way they are. (22:47) Martha - M...
May 27, 2025•50 min
What does it take to have a happy marriage? What can take away from a happy marriage? Today, Doug discusses the virtues that make for a happy marriage. He also shares three tips for a successful marriage. PLUS: The Friday Rant! Listener questions and comments: Tessa - My husband and I started dating in high school. We have been working out together, and it is so much fun. (19:32) Jerry - Can those with dementia and Alzheimer's have a viable marriage? (23:39) Resources: Rekindled Hearts Marriage ...
May 23, 2025•50 min
Monica Hinderer joins Doug discussing how to teach your children the virtue of resilience. They stress the importance of having consistent loving caregivers and responsive attention at an early age. Listener questions and comments: David - How do I help my daughter forgive and move on? (8:02) Kathleen - I have a 22-year-old who's constantly arguing. He has ADHD, and I'm wanting to know how to handle the situation. (35:36) Resources: The Forgiveness Institute https://internationalforgiveness.com/...
May 22, 2025•50 min
Doug discusses the importance of setting boundaries in marriage. He shares how boundaries are like property lines and help to protect your values, energy, time and let your spouse learn how he or she can love you more and bring more joy into your life. Doug unpacks the types of boundaries: emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual and shares where God set boundaries in the Bible. Listener questions and comments: Mary - I have a 22-year-old son who graduated from college, and he wants to spend a...
May 21, 2025•50 min
Doug unpacks a case study from Impossible Marriages Redeemed by Leila Miller. In this case, the young couple were married at a very young age after the woman found out she was pregnant. Faced with numerous challenges including marital infidelity, and separation this couple overcame many obstacles through patience, understanding and ultimately the grace of God. Listener questions and comments: David - I have a couple of coworkers - one is married and one is divorced. They're committing adultery t...
May 20, 2025•50 min
Are you looking for ways to become your spouses’ best friend? Today Doug unpacks companionate love as a key to a great marriage. Doug also discusses the healing nature of the annulment process, jealousy in marriage, and why people become defensive. Listener questions and comments: Aaron - I'm a fallen away Catholic and thinking about coming back. Do I need to go through the annulment process? My first marriage was not in the Church. I'm now dating someone else. (19:17) Steve - A nephew who's a w...
May 19, 2025•50 min
Doug gives advice on the appropriate age to start dating, the purpose for dating, and shares standards that will help couples have a holy and chaste relationship. Doug also discusses red flags indicative of a narcissist: love bombing, false empathy, gas lighting and lack of boundaries. Plus: The Friday Rant! Listener questions and comments: Mary - My daughter has been dating someone for a couple of years. The mother of her boyfriend has an unhealthy relationship and overpowers the relationship w...
May 16, 2025•54 min
Monica Hinderer joins Doug to discuss the importance of listening to your children, talking to your children, and setting boundaries. They share how to affirm emotions, what to do with a bossy child, and how to help your child learn to to apologize. Resources: Rekindled Hearts Marriage Bundle https://relevantradio.store/collections/books/products/marriage-bundle
May 15, 2025•54 min
Doug continues to unpack ways to say I love you without saying the words. He shares the importance of working together and affirming one another to build a firm foundation in your marriage. Listener questions and comments: Annie - I share a selfie text with my husband and he responds with an “I love you”. (15:22) Caesar - I cook for my wife to show her I love her. (17:03) Carol - Shut your cell phone off at dinner. My husband and I practice this. (39:13) Reyna - I love your show Doug. (40:19) Re...
May 14, 2025•54 min
Do you tell your spouse that you love them every day? Today, Doug shares 11 ways to say I love you without saying the words. Listener question and comments: Keri - I used to leave little notes in my husband’s socks or in his suitcase, sharing what he means to me. (14:04) Resources: Rekindled Hearts Marriage Bundle https://relevantradio.store/collections/books/products/marriage-bundle Showing your love without saying “I love you”. How can I make your day better? What can I do to help you? Thank y...
May 13, 2025•54 min
Doug unpacks necessary skills for conflict management. He shares the importance of knowing how to calm down, breath slowly, and pray about the conflict at hand. Listener questions and comments: Carol - My husband and I went to marriage counseling and it helped. A tip I learned: Grab an object, and as long as you are holding this object, it's a safe zone and you can't lose your temper. (39:59) Diane - When your spouse confesses that he's messed around with many women and you decide to stay, what ...
May 12, 2025•54 min
Doug shares the single most important habit for a strong marriage and discusses how to build an emotional connection with your spouse; Plus: The Friday Rant! Listener questions and comments: Marissa - Prayer as a couple and doing things as a couple will save your marriage. (8:43) Marci - Advice for marriage: If you're wrong admit it, and if you're right, shut up. (10:41) Sylvia - Doug and his wife are fulfilling scripture by going to Eucharistic Adoration together. (23:06) Joe - What do you thin...
May 09, 2025•51 min
Monica Hinderer joins Doug to discuss ways to show your children you love them. Listener questions and comments: Nora - A memory my daughter shared with me was from when she was 5. She explained to me how I made her feel safe by playing with her hair. Erin - My child's father is deceased and the grandfather has passed as well, so there's no other men in the family. How can I find her a male role model? Marci - The way you're explaining this, is a good justification that there shouldn't be gay ma...
May 08, 2025•50 min
Are you looking to be a better husband? From making your wife laugh, to showing your wife you love her in a meaningful way, Doug unpacks 11 ideas for husbands to make their wives feel well loved. Listener questions and comments: Bree - I love the list that you gave. This could also be applied for a wife to a husband. I struggle with procrastination. My husband is early to everything. (43:10) Resources: Catholic Psychotherapy https://catholicpsychotherapy.org/ Catholic Therapists https://www.cath...
May 07, 2025•50 min
Doug unpacks ways women can connect with their husbands on an emotional level. He takes a deep dive into the male psyche and unpacks the importance of compliments, physical touch, interest in hobbies, being thoughtful, listening, flirting, and revealing yourself and thoughts. Listener questions and comments: Resources: Rekindled Hearts Marriage Bundle https://relevantradio.store/collections/books/products/marriage-bundle...
May 06, 2025•50 min
Doug unpacks things you can say during a fight to calm the waters when things get heated. Plus: One minute to a Rekindled Heart. Listener questions and comments: Dee - My husband and I are separated due to his drug addiction that he kept from me. I thought he was sober the last four years. There are anger issues and he's accused me of stuff. He wants me back. What am I supposed to do? (20:19) Al - My wife and I both work. The bill division is not 50/50. It's more like 95/5. What do you think? (2...
May 05, 2025•50 min
Dr. Mario Sacasa joins Doug to discuss the gift of marriage. They unpack the sacramental nature of marriage and the importance of emotional intimacy in marriage. Listener questions and comments: Patty - I need advice for my marriage. How can I be more emotionally intimate with my husband of 31 years? Maria - What about marriages without God as a foundation? How do I give advice to them? Shirley - Can you give us the tools to have a celibate and chaste relationship before marriage and after a div...
May 02, 2025•48 min
Are you unsure if your child has autism? Today, Monica Hinderer joins Doug to discuss how to raise children with autism? They share statistics that point to the increase in autism diagnosis and the contributing factors. Listener questions and comments: Mary - I have a child diagnosed with autism. Intervention does work and she's in college now. She was diagnosed at 4 years old. (20:23) Sally - I have a child with autism and I wonder how I can help him navigate his relationship with God. (28:20) ...
May 01, 2025•50 min
"You be the therapist". What counsel would you give a wife who is deciding if she should tell her husband about an affair she had years ago? Should you even try to fix a marriage that has been dead for a dozen years? Listener questions and comments: Lori - I would have the woman go to spiritual direction. The truth has to come out. I also recommend a 12 step program. Mary - They can't have intimate love if they're not communicating. A goal would be a date night, and maybe seek a good therapist. ...
Apr 30, 2025•50 min
Doug unpacks a case study from Impossible Marriages Redeemed by Leila Miller. In this case, the couple fought every day for 40 years but after prayer and effort saved their marriage. Doug shares how toxic contempt and stonewalling are in marriage. Doug also discusses how to apply the message of Divine Mercy in marriage. Listener questions and comments: Julie - My husband and I visited my sister and brother in law. He had lung cancer. They prayed the chaplet every day and he died on Divine Mercy ...
Apr 29, 2025•50 min
Carolyn Klika joins Doug to discuss her divorce support organization - Abounding Joy Ministry. They unpack the importance of working to save marriages and offer support for victims of divorce. Listener questions and comments: Evelyn - I am separated from my husband who is suffering from mental illness. How can I save my marriage? (18:43) Michael - My wife told me she wanted to leave 3 weeks ago. I tried to talk to her. She keeps saying we are two different people. What should I do? (25:04) Larry...
Apr 28, 2025•50 min
What happens if you lose faith in your husband? What do you do if there is physical abuse in your marriage? What do you do when you learn secrets about your spouse's past? Doug answers these questions and more. Plus: The Friday Rant! Listener questions and comments: Rebecca - My husband is going through a midlife crisis and left the family. What should I do? (21:00) Erica - Why would adultery at any time during marriage not count for an annulment? (39:15) Resources: Rekindled Hearts - Marriage B...
Apr 25, 2025•50 min
Monica Hinderer joins Doug discussing how to raise happy children. They share how shielding your children from negative emotions can lead to over protection and how navigating unhappiness can teach your children resilience. They also explain how to model happiness through parental behavior and unpack the importance of focusing on emotional connection over striving for perfection.
Apr 24, 2025•48 min
Doug helps a wife who appears to be the sole provider for the family and what to do in that situation. (3:47) Doug answers an email from a wife who is thinking about giving up in their marriage (8:32) Doug answers an emailer who thinks a pre-nup is okay. (13:56) Doug answers a question about how to approach counseling with a fragile narcissist.(31:40) Doug answers an email on how to bring husband to church. (47:46)Listener questions and comments: Sylvia- if there is conditionality from the prenu...
Apr 24, 2025•51 min
Doug shares a positive email from a wife bragging about her husband. (3:05) He helps an individual who has been dating her boyfriend for nine years. (10:00) Doug gives advice to a mother who's daughter who co-habitating and how to ask about marriage. Listener questions and comments: Michael-How do I make sure to get a good Catholic marriage counselor. (7:11) Monica- How do you discern dating someone who has dysfunctional family? My son is asking my advice (20:34) Peter- My wife's family living w...
Apr 22, 2025•51 min
Doug is joined by his daughter Katie as she is currently in Rome when she heard the news that Pope Francis died and gives her perspective of the atmosphere there (6:18). Doug then discusses Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation about marriage, "Amoris Laetitia" (Joy of Love). (20:26) Listener questions and comments: Austen -Shares his thoughts on Pope Francis and the inspiration he gave to him (15:35) Mai- husband left and want a divorce, but I don't want to cooperate. (42:30) Resources: Rekindled...
Apr 21, 2025•51 min
Is suffering a good thing? Doug explores the role of suffering in sanctifying marriages. He unpacks the value of redemptive suffering for the conversion of sinners and points to the importance of sharing in Christ’s cross to bring healing in our marriage. PLUS: The Friday Rant! Listener questions and comments: Stephanie – Do you have any advice for spiritual warfare in marriage? (38:52) Sandra – My husband doesn’t want to pray the rosary with me. What should I do? (43:00) Resources: Rekindled He...
Apr 18, 2025•48 min
Monica Hinderer joins Doug to continue their discussion on what kids notice about adults without the adults being aware of it. They also address parent and child interaction related to early childhood struggles. Listener questions and comments: Gracie - I am a lactation consultant and want to clarify that cortisol is not passed through breast milk. (10:45) Martha - Does the Church allow separation if a father is emotionally abusive to his child? (18:00) Sarah - I agree with most of your advice, ...
Apr 17, 2025•48 min
Doug continues his discussion on how to be happy in your marriage. He reviews what St. Thomas Aquinas said about happiness and shares the importance of exercising the 4 Cardinal virtues. Doug unpacks the scientific approach to happiness: mother nature does not care if you are happy; lasting happiness comes from happiness, not hacks; happiness is love. Listener questions and comments: Lisa - We've been married for 40 years. Men do need respect. We resolved to not fight about money. You need to fi...
Apr 16, 2025•48 min
Is it possible to be happy in a difficult marriage? Today Doug discusses how to be happy in your marriage. He shares wisdom from St. Thomas Aquinas and shares how living a virtuous life leads to happiness. Listener questions and comments: Joe - Is it possible for someone with borderline personality disorder to heal and have a happy marriage? (10:29) Bob - My wife and I have different ideas about sex. She thinks I should see a therapist, because I think about sex too much. What do you think? (16:...
Apr 15, 2025•48 min
