Controlling behavior occurs when a person attempts to force another person to conform to their own needs or desires through some form of manipulation. The outsized desire for control is unhealthy and ...

Recognizing controlling behavior in relationships can be challenging, especially when it develops gradually over time. Many controlling behaviors might initially appear as expressions of love or ...

Abusive behavior is not always obvious. Here are some of the mechanisms controlling individuals use to keep their partners silent and disempowered. When we think of an unhealthy relationship, we often ...

Some people are perfectly happy to play their roles in the skit that is life, but others have to run the show even at the ...

Why would anyone continue to meddle, fix, advise, worry, obsess, or monitor other people's behavior when it makes them and everyone around them miserable? Simply put, they do it to keep their anxiety ...

You’re having dinner with your boyfriend, and he’s reminding you for the third time to eat the salad, not the pasta. It’s not control vs. calories control. Why, then? Why must some people have to ...

Control struggles between partners are often the ruin of a couple. But what is a battle for “control” in the context of a relationship? When I introduce this concept in couple’s therapy, there is ...

DEAR HARRIETTE: I’m a 54-year-old woman with a 61-year-old twice-divorced man who seems to be stuck in the past with how the two other women treated him. My partner is untrusting and tries to control ...

When things get tough in relationships, it’s very normal, natural and easy to focus on your partner’s behaviors and the problems they bring to the relationship. It’s much harder to see your own ...

This column originally ran in 2021. Dear Annie: I am a woman in my mid-30s, and my wife is in her early 40s. We met a little less than two years ago and haven’t left each other’s side since. We got ...

Jealousy isn’t always loud—it can shape your relationship in quiet ways. Recognize the signs and break the cycle before they damage trust in your relationship. Jealousy can be a quiet disruptor in ...