Carolyn Sharp: Keep the Spark Alive in Your Relationship

The Meaningful Life with Andrew G. Marshall

How do you keep the spark alive in your relationship when there are kids involved and you have ten, twenty, or thirty years on the clock?

This week I talk to CAROLYN SHARP, a US-based marital therapist, and the author of Fire It Up: Four Secrets to Reigniting Intimacy and Joy in Your Relationship. We cover:

• Purpose: could you define a purpose for your marriage?
• Sex: how to talk about it honestly and effectively.
• Conflict: handling disagreements better
• Happiness: the habits that create lasting joy
• Acceptance: how practicing radical acceptance will feed your relationship.

Carolyn has a master of social work from Portland State University and has extensive training in attachment, neuroscience, trauma, and mindfulness. She is an experienced couples therapist and coach, with twenty-five years of training and practice in helping people build vital, vibrant, and secure functioning relationships through one-on-one and group couples coaching, workshops, retreats, and intensives. She and her husband and dogs live in northern Massachusetts.

If You’re Looking for More….

You can subscribe to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts) and hear a bonus mini-episode every week. Or you can join our Supporters Club on Patreon to also access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

This week supporters will hear:

• How to totally accept your partner
• Three Things Carolyn Sharp knows to be true.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Attend Andrew's new men's retreat, Reconnect With Yourself, this autumn in the Brandenberg countryside near Berlin

Read Carolyn Sharp’s book, Fire It Up: Four Secrets to Reigniting Intimacy and Joy in Your Relationship.

Take a look at Carolyn Sharp’s retreats and couple coaching work, or at her therapy website,

Follow Carolyn Sharp on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram @secureconnectionscoach and on YouTube @carolynsharp9053

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall