Dr. Tracy Dalgleish, Ottawa, ON (2025)

09/25/2025

Small phrases, big difference. These are the ones Greg and I use when we catch ourselves spiraling in an argument.

Which one would help you most in your relationship?

Repost this so others see them or share with your partner so you’ve got them ready next time.

If you’re looking for more support, start today and feel more connected next week. Comment ‘30 Days’ to join my 30 days email challenge. Built using the tools I teach my clients in my therapy room, backed by my nearly 20 years of researching and working with couples.

relationship advice | marriage goals | couples therapist

09/22/2025

What I say to my son today will shape the kind of partner he is tomorrow.

As a couples therapist, I’ve seen how enmeshment, obligation, and emotional guilt get passed down from generation to generation. When kids are raised to feel responsible for their parent’s feelings, it can make it harder for them to prioritize their partner later in life.

That’s why I’m intentional about the words I use with my son—because I want him to know he is his own person, and that love isn’t about control.

This is also why I wrote my new book, You, Your Husband, and His Mother. In it, I walk you through the toxic family patterns that can undermine healthy autonomy—and how to shift them so your relationship (and your child’s future relationships) can truly thrive.

✨ Pre-orders are live now!

Comment TRIANGLE and I’ll DM you the details so you can be among the first to receive it.

Healthy Relationships | Family Boundaries | Marriage Support | Couples Therapy Tools | Parenting & Autonomy

09/18/2025

What I wish every couple knew going into having a baby.

Tell me in the comments. If you’ve had a baby, what advice do you give couples? Or what do you wish you had communicated back then that you know now?

If this is a new season for you and you’re looking for support to stay a solid team with your partner 👇

This is exactly why I wrote my new book, “You, Your Husband, and His Mother”—to give you the tools to navigate in-law dynamics without guilt, set boundaries with clarity, and stay united as a couple when family pressures are high.

And if you already have a good relationship? Let’s keep it there with these skills and tools to keep supporting your family.

✨ Pre-orders are available now!

Comment TRIANGLE and I’ll DM you the details so you can be among the first to receive it!

Healthy Relationships | Marriage Support | Setting Boundaries | Navigating boundaries with in-laws

09/17/2025

Becoming parents can reveal unspoken assumptions about who carries what in the home. For us, it took one small moment to uncover a much bigger truth about the mental load.

Most couples never talk about the ‘default parent’ until resentment has already started to build—but you don’t have to wait until then. These conversations can be hard, but they’re also what keep your marriage strong.

Have you and your partner ever talked about who the default parent is in your home? Tell me about it in the comments!

Mental load | Default parent | Healthy marriage conversations | Couples therapy tools | Connected partnership | Marriage support

09/16/2025

You can say no…

… and still be a good person.

A message I hope all those going into the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday season can hold in mind.

That’s the heart of my new book, You, Your Husband, and His Mother—written for women like you who feel stuck in this one relationship and want to set boundaries without the guilt.

Inside, I’ll help you:
✨ Stop second-guessing yourself by understanding family legacy patterns and expectations
✨ Discover your MIL type so you feel more prepared to respond with clarity
✨ Explore your values and what truly matters to you and your partner, so boundaries come from intention—not conflict
✨ Learn your triangle and the pattern that keeps you and your husband stuck
✨ Build the tools you need to be a united front with your partner while still honouring your self-worth

Boundaries aren’t betrayal. They are love, with clarity.

✨ Pre-orders are live now! (And one of the best ways you can support me is to pre-order the book.)

Comment TRIANGLE and I’ll DM you the details so you can be among the first to receive it!

Healthy Boundaries | In-Law Dynamics | Marriage After Kids | Couples Therapy Tools

09/15/2025

Your stories show what’s possible when a MIL chooses respect, support, and care—and I want to help you create that same foundation in your own marriage.

In You, Your Husband, and His Mother, I teach you the VAULT Method, my five-step framework to stop cycles of resentment, shift old dynamics, and build the secure partnership you deserve.

✨ Pre-orders are live now!

📕 And is offering 25% off pre-orders for YOU, YOUR HUSBAND, AND HIS MOTHER for B&N Rewards members (Premium Members save an additional 10%). Use code PREORDER25.

Comment TRIANGLE and I’ll DM you all the details!

Healthy Relationships | Marriage Support | Setting Boundaries | Couples Therapy Tools

09/01/2025

✨ In case you missed it...

You’ve got boundaries.
You speak up at work.
You advocate for your kids.

But when it comes to your mother-in-law?

You freeze. You fume. You feel like a guest in your own life.

I want you to know this. After working with hundreds of couples, you are not alone.

And now there is a resource for you!

You, Your Husband, and His Mother is the book I wrote for women like you—boundary bosses everywhere who feel stuck in this one relationship.

In these pages, I help you
✨Stop second-guessing yourself by learning about family legacy patterns and our own expectations
✨ Discover your MIL type—so you then feel more prepared on how best to respond to her (I walk you through too!)
✨ Explore your values and what truly matters to you and your partner, so boundaries aren't reactionary in times of conflict
✨ Learn your triangle and the pattern that is keeping you and your husband stuck
✨ Give you the tools you need to be a united front with your partner and set boundaries with his family.

Let’s rewrite this story together.

Pre-orders are now available! (And one of the best ways you can support me is to pre-order the book!)

Comment THE TRIANGLE now and I'll DM you more details so you can be among the first to receive it when it drops November 4, 2025!

RelationshipBoundaries
Marriage After Kids
In-LawDrama
Couples Therapy Tools

05/24/2025

The key to shifting out of roommate status? 👇

✨ The strength in your bond does not come from big moments. Instead, it is about the small moments that you can do each day over the coming months that reignites what feels exciting and joyful - the parts that you once experienced when you were dating, only better.

👉👉 Join me for my next cohort of my MORE THAN ROOMMATES challenge. We get started May 28th. Join the thousands of couples who have taken the challenged and turned the page from roommates, back to lovers. I've curated my best strategies from working directly with couples, just like you into this easy to digest 10 day challenge. Whether you and your partner need a new path or even if your partner just doesn't seem interested, join me starting the 28th. Comment or DM ROOMIE and I'll send over the link. Grab your spot now.

I'm cheering you on

05/19/2025

“I just wish my partner would change.”
I hear this all the time. And while it’s a valid wish, staying stuck in what they’re not doing often leaves you spinning in resentment and helplessness.

Here’s the truth no one really tells you:
Your power is not in getting them to be different.
Your power is in how you show up. How you set limits. How you tend to your pain.
It’s in preparing new ways of responding instead of falling into the same arguments.

If you keep reacting the same way, you’ll keep feeling the same stuckness.
But if you shift—not for them, but for your own clarity and calm—you’ll start to feel more grounded, more certain, more like you.

Comment or DM ROOMIE for the link to my next cohort of the More Than Roommates Challenge. Inside the More Than Roommates Challenge, you’ll take 10 days to stop waiting for your partner to show up differently and start focusing on how you can reconnect with what matters.
Small shifts. Big difference. We get started May 28th.

I'm right there with you

05/17/2025

Bids for connection are any attempts your partner makes to be acknowledged and connected with you.

According to research by the - couples who divorced turned towards each other's bids for connection only 33% of the time, whereas couples who stayed together turned towards each other's bids 86% of the time.

Want to really lean into these small opportunities to connect?

👉 Struggling to feel heard, seen, or even just noticed by your partner?

That’s often a sign that the small but important bids for connection. Those gentle reaches like a glance, a comment, a touch—are being missed or ignored.

The More Than Roommates Challenge helps you turn toward each other again. In just 10 days, you’ll learn how to recognize those bids, respond with more presence, and rebuild emotional closeness one small moment at a time.

Comment of DM me ROOMIE and I'll send you the link to join. Expert led, designed for busy families. Do something different for your relationship today, even if your partner is not on board.

I'm cheering you on

05/09/2025

If something is important to us, simply letting it go for the sake of avoiding a hard conversation isn’t helping our relationship in the long run.

Remember: We repeat what we don’t repair.

That repetition is where resentment and contempt seep in.

Repairing is a skill - one that many people struggle with. But like other skills, you can learn how to do this.

This week on the podcast, Greg and I talk all about what to do with a bad apology. We dive into what they sound like, why they happen, and how you can both make changes to learn how to repair.

Comment 'EPISODE 14' and I'll DM you the links to listen.

Struggling with how to repair after a bad apology—or not knowing what to say at all? If you’re looking for a place to start, 30 Days to Us will walk you through small, daily steps to rebuild trust, reconnect, and finally feel like a team again. Comment or DM 30DAYS and I'll send you the link.

marriage advice | marriage help | relationship expert | couples therapist

04/24/2025

Bids for connection are any attempts your partner makes to acknowledge and connected with you.

Sometimes they might not sound like "I miss you."

They might sound like:
"Did you see the reel I sent you?"
"Remember when we?"
"What do you want for dinner?"

These can feel random, even annoying, but they're often your partner's way of reaching for closeness.

How you respond can either bridge or widen the gap between you two.

Research done by the gottman institute shows that couples who stay together turn towards those bids 86% of the time where couples who ended in divorce this was only 33% of the time.

But the reality is it can be easy to miss these moments.

Which is exactly why I created my latest resource from the More Than Roommates series, 30 Days to Us. To help you slow down, tune into, and respond to your partner in a way that builds connection. Comment or DM 30 Days and I'll send you the link so you can get the best strategies that I use everyday, with couples just like you.

You've got this.

Dr. Tracy Dalgleish

09/25/2025

09/22/2025

09/18/2025

09/17/2025

09/16/2025

09/15/2025

09/01/2025

05/24/2025

05/19/2025

05/17/2025

05/09/2025

04/24/2025

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