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Two months into a deeply unhappy time in her marriage, June quit all her social media accounts. "I can't stand looking at all those happy smiling couples out on dates, having fun vacations, and celebrating milestones while my marriage is struggling to survive," she said. "I'm almost resentful that they are doing so well when I'm sad and angry." But were all her couple friends really as happy and successful as they appeared? Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and other social medi

Dan and Jillian came to see Dawna eighteen months after Dan's brief affair had ended. They'd seen a family counselor at the time and they'd done everything right: full disclosure, individual as well as couples counseling, and a recommitment ceremony with their parish priest. Jillian said all the right words, too: "I've forgiven him. We've moved past it." But after a few sessions, a pattern became clear. Whenever Dan was late coming home, or vague about a work trip, Jillian's

Many years ago, when Dawna was in graduate school we were approached by another couple slightly older than us, Amy and Greg, whom Mark knew from his work. They invited us to engage in what they called "marital co-counseling." The idea was simple: Mark would meet weekly with Amy, and talk with her about any issues that he had in his relationship to Dawna. Amy would offer a "woman's perspective" and help him strategize ways to fix the problem. Then they would switch roles, and