How to Connect With Your Partner on a Deeper Level | Love | E522
Author: Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby
May 11, 2026
Duration: 52:34
“We talk all the time, but I still feel alone in my marriage.” If that sentence has ever crossed your mind on a Tuesday night, mid-load of dishes, with your partner three feet away, you are not imagining it. And you are not the only one.
In this episode, I sit down with Debra Fileta, the licensed therapist who has spent more than twenty years in clinical practice helping couples figure out exactly this.
In This Episode
The three levels of communication, and why almost every couple stalls at level two without realizing it
Why “we talk all the time” is not the same thing as feeling close, even after twenty years of marriage
The thirty-minute weekly ritual Debra and her husband John have used for fifteen years to keep their marriage from drifting
Why being “nice” is not the same as having strong people skills, and the people-pleasing trap that masquerades as kindness
How to tell the difference between a one-time conflict and a relationship pattern that is pointing at something deeper
The volume-dial reframe for couples where one partner feels everything at a 7 and the other at a 3
The empathy practice that takes thirty seconds and changes the way you see almost everyone in your life
Why “I keep attracting the wrong people” is the wrong question, and the better one Debra asks instead
Why This Matters
This episode is for anyone who has caught themselves thinking, something has shifted between us and I cannot put my finger on what. For the partner who feels like they are always the one initiating real conversation. For the couple who used to talk for hours and now mostly talks about logistics. For anyone who has wondered if needing more depth in their marriage is asking too much. It is not. And the way back is more learnable than you might think.
xo,
Dr. Lisa Marie Bobby
Growing Self
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