Photo by Andrew Southam Tracy Sondern, LMFT, a couples therapist in Los Angeles reflects on breast cancer, marriage, and what the hardest year of her life taught her about relationships. When Diagnosis Brings Clarity This month marks the 25th anniversary of my last cancer treatment. I was diagnosed with breast cancer at 38, and what followed — the lumpectomy, the chemo, the radiation — was also, unexpectedly, one of the most clarifying years of my life. Before the diagnosis,

It starts quietly. Dinner is on the table. Nothing is technically wrong. And yet you look across at your partner and feel something you can’t quite name — a slight distance, a missing frequency, like a radio station you used to tune into perfectly that’s now coming in with static. You still love each other. You’re still functioning. But something has shifted. What you may be experiencing is what therapists call a midlife life transition — one that, in my experience, couples f

Navigating Life Transitions Together If you and your partner are moving from one phase of life to another, you may find that what once aligned so naturally now feels out of sync. Your values, priorities, and visions for the next chapter may be evolving in different directions—and that can be unsettling. Navigating life transitions together  takes patience, communication, and a willingness to see each other with fresh eyes. When Change Shakes the Foundation Every relationship