Kathryn Ford, MD

08/05/2026

Do you avoid hard conversations because of their intensity?

Face your own feelings first—connection begins with self-awareness. 🌱

👉 Discover more in the full article on Psychology Today:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/openings/202212/are-you-micro-ghosting-your-lover

08/02/2026

Conversation is a major creative force in relationships.

We exchange information, ideas, hopes, dreams, fears, and sadnesses.

We make plans, large and small. We entertain each other with humor and originality. We want comfort, advice, validation, patience, and pleasure.

We want so much from our conversations and are constantly reminded how hard this is.

08/01/2026

The right family rules are powerful tools. But you need to enforce them with consistency and kindness...

Your family rules are just that — rules for the whole family.

Kids have a keen sense of fairness, says Ford, and they also learn by example. You’ll be a lot more successful in your goals if everyone consistently follows them.

If you mess up, which you probably will, make sure to explain to your kids that you realize you broke a family rule and that you learned a lesson for next time.

07/30/2026

Good conversations need good leadership and good followership. In our “look at me” culture, we seem to value leaders more than followers, but these two roles are inseparable.

Listening requires us to submit to the pace and pattern of the other person’s speech and thoughts.

We corral our runaway horses, our own thoughts, and keep a close eye on them as we ride off in the direction of the speaker and help them pursue their fast and beautiful thoughts.

The followership of listening requires humility, patience, self-discipline, and generosity—all qualities that must be actively cultivated if we are to connect in loving and exciting ways.

Read more ✨ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/openings/202201/listening-like-you-mean-it

07/28/2026

Dialogue is a conversation in which the priorities are relationship, learning, and collaboration. You may or may not solve a problem, come to consensus, or feel good afterward, but with every interaction you have a chance to affect your relationship for better or worse. Each conversation sets the stage for the next one, and a good conversation creates positive expectations of trust, understanding, and intimacy.

Read more ✨ https://www.kathrynfordmd.com/

07/23/2026

This is "Starting Open" by Kathryn Ford on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

07/20/2026

Mistakes in relationships happen all the time, generally every day. The goal for strong relationships is not to eliminate mistakes but to get very good at handling them. In fact, mistakes handled well strengthen individuals and relationships more than not making mistakes.

How so? If we don't know how to repair and recover from the injuries of mistakes, there is increased pressure to be perfect, something we cannot do and instinctively know we cannot do. We feel trapped in the impossible situation of trying to be perfect. This inevitably feels like failure and feels unsafe emotionally. On the other hand, handling mistakes well creates a relationship where it is safe to get it wrong and safe to learn. We come to trust that we will be forgiven and that the relationship is sturdy.

There are many useful tools for dealing with mistakes: apology, forgiveness, patience, acceptance, and—everybody's favorite–talking it through. These all have their place, but the overlooked strategy is the "do-over." The do-over is the shortcut to all the things you want and need after a mistake that was hurtful: acknowledgement, apology, forgiveness, teamwork, and learning. An amazing feat!

Read more ✨ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/openings/202508/the-do-over-quick-fix-for-relationship-mistakes

07/18/2026

How to stop escaping emotions and start getting closer.
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Love is built, or not, in those difficult emotional moments when we encounter each other a bit more naked than usual.

07/18/2026

This is "Everything is Aperture Awareness" by Kathryn Ford on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

07/13/2026

✨ Feelings, our own and also other people’s, make us anxious. We can learn how to turn emotional moments into golden opportunities for connection.

✨ Ghosting your partner starts with ghosting yourself. When you show up at the door to your partner’s heart, first check in with your own heart.

✨ Proceed despite feeling awkward. We are all learners, every time, in this territory.

Read more here: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/openings/202212/are-you-micro-ghosting-your-lover