Secrets of Strong Couples

Julie Bulitt is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 25 years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families. Her private practice focuses on family, couples and individual therapy, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and Executive Functioning coaching. She has served as a Clinical Supervisor and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant for the Montgomery County (Maryland) Mental Health Association, an Adoption Therapist for the Center for Support and Education in suburban Washington DC. She currently is an in-house therapist for The Discovery Channel in Silver Spring, Maryland. David Bulitt is a partner in the Washington DC Metro law firm of Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, PA. For more than a decade, he has been chosen as one of the Washington area’s top divorce lawyers by multiple publications, recognized as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” and a Washington DC Metro “Super Lawyer.” Praised as “the lawyer who epitomizes stability and old fashioned common sense” by Bethesda Magazine, David has a particular interest in families with special needs children as a result of personal experiences in his own family. He is a published author of two fiction novels, multiple articles in legal publications and has appeared as a special guest on several local television shows.

Contents

Introduction: Drilling Down



The First Conflict: Becoming a Parent




Karim and Natasha: Finding the Same Page
John and Jennifer: Infertility, Adoption and the Second Time Around
Megan and Sean: Religion, Family, and IVF
Torrence and Tamika: Maybe It’s Not Meant to Be
Brittany and Nicholas: Can We Go Thru It Again?
Bethany and George: Yours, Mine, Ours?






The Second Conflict: Illness, Death and Loss




Barbara and Steve: Silence and Strength Carry Them Through
Linda and Matt: Our Boy Has Cancer
Sarah and Michael: She’s Crazy. I Love Her.
Jeff and Dana: It’s Not Jeff. It’s Someone Else. Someone I Don’t Know.
Brandon and Lauren: Why Can’t He Be Normal?
Tony and Nicole: He Used to Run. Now He Sleeps.
Becca and Ron: She Won’t Get Better. And Then She’ll Die.






The Third Conflict: Jobs, Careers, and Money




Ty and Candice: It’s a Man’s Job. I Failed.
Randi and Jake: He Needs to Get Back to the Office
Kyle and Morgan: I Thought It Was a Good Idea. Then the Credit Cards Got Maxed.
Juan and Vanessa: Kids Are in School. I’m Back to Work.
Noah and Lindsey: We’re Broke. Are We Broken?
Troy and Angel: Up in Smoke





The Fourth Conflict: Frequent Fractures




Kimberly and Ben: Only a One Nighter. Or Was It Two?
Pam and Ryan: His Mom Makes Our Bed
Gina and Todd: It Used to Just Take a Stiff Wind
Christie and Jim: Another Dead Soldier
Tristan and Carly: He Gambled. We Lost.
Keith and Anna: I Have Three children. Didn’t Ask for a Fourth.






The Fifth Conflict: Living Your Life




Aimee and Claudia: Yes, We’re Gay. Yes, That’s Our Son.
Max and Inez: We’re Jewish. He’s Black.
Maya and Howard: It’s Not as Sweet as a Cookie
Jamar and Nichelle: He Should Be Hammering Nails, Not Painting Them
Cam and Erin: Black Plus White Equals What Exactly?
Corey and Scott: It’s Not the 1950s. Or Is It?





The Takeaway

About the Authors