Marianne Marlow, MA, LMHC was a podcast guest on “A Wealthy Life for Her” with Tresa Leftenant, owner of Reinventing Her Money.
We are all a little more stressed, a little more tense than usual. People are disagreeing about social distancing, the problems facing our country, and couples are fighting more, siblings are fighting more, and some family members have even broken off their connection altogether. Experiencing these same concerns in her own family, Tresa invites her good friend and relationship therapist Marianne Marlow to educate us about why we behave the way we do during challenging times and what we can do to make our relationships better.
Tresa asked Marianne to come on the show because she worked with Marianne around some emotional pain, she was experiencing regarding family grievances that her family has been dealing with for some time.
Tresa started the podcast by asking Marianne, why do we get into disagreements, hold grudges, have division within our own family and in our society? How do we get into those disagreements and then stay stuck, sometimes for years?
Marianne explained that we have, around the world, experienced a great deal of trauma and chaos over the last 6 months. It is in the collective consciousness and unconsciousness – that means that we are aware of some of the things that are troubling us and there are also things we are unaware of. When we have this kind of societal and community disquiet, our nervous systems become dysregulated; meaning that we are more on edge because of what is going on around us. When we are on edge, the part of our brain that registers danger goes into alert. That primitive brain, the reptilian, begins to pay attention to how it might be hurt or vulnerable to others. It is this fear that creates tension and suspicion for others.
Listen to Overcoming Family Grievances During Stressful Times with Marianne Marlow.