Conflict In Marriage? DO THIS

Do you have to submit to your husband? Do you have to listen to him when you think he’s wrong? What to do when it feels like your spouse doesn’t hear you?

Join Dan Burke with Tim Glover, a licensed clinical pastoral therapist with 25 years of experience helping marriages, as they tackle one of marriage's most difficult challenges: navigating conflict when spouses cannot agree on direction. This episode provides practical tools for communication while addressing the spiritual warfare dimension that exploits every marital disagreement.

Discover the critical distinction between *moral black and white issues versus ordinary marital conflict.* When decisions involve clear moral sin against God's law or Church teaching, the path forward becomes clearer. But most marital conflict involves the gray areas where both spouses have legitimate perspectives, deep needs, and different visions for the future.

Learn why *men tend to shut down earlier in conflict while women remain open to influence throughout.* Tim explains how this dynamic, rooted in differences between the sexes, can create destructive patterns where wives pursue and husbands withdraw. Dan shares his own experience of "blue screening" early in marriage when emotional intensity exceeded his processing capacity, revealing why structured communication becomes essential.

This episode introduces the powerful *donut or bagel approach to conflict resolution.* Tim guides you through identifying your core need at the center, that deep existential vulnerability or wound that makes this decision feel so high stakes, while recognizing the flexible negotiable areas in the outer ring. Discover why sharing core needs with vulnerability rather than leading with non-negotiables restores intimacy instead of creating defensive power struggles.

Hear the beautiful image from the Book of Tobit where Tobias and Sarah, facing their own challenges, got up from bed to pray together: *Let's pray to the Lord to be merciful and to protect us.* Dan and Tim emphasize that prayer must bookend this entire process, not as box-checking but as genuine humility before God, asking for wisdom and inviting the Blessed Mother and St. Michael the Archangel to protect your conversation from the enemy's divisive tactics.

Learn the essential *speaker listener technique from Fighting for Your Marriage,* a scientifically validated approach tested across cultures for over 50 years. Discover why repeating back what your spouse says to their satisfaction before responding destroys the enemy's strategy of creating destructive escalation through misunderstanding. Tim recommends actually writing down what your spouse shares to help mitigate flooding and maintain focus during emotionally charged conversations.

This episode reveals how *the enemy has only one fundamental strategy with two applications: divide you from God and divide you from others.* In marriage, your spouse sits at the top of that list, making every significant disagreement a prime opportunity for demonic exploitation. Understanding this spiritual reality transforms how you approach conflict, recognizing that you're not fighting against each other but together against a common enemy.

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