This month, I received my Psychology Today magazine in my mailbox. In this issue, there was an article called "Listening to Echoism". I  knew I wanted to write a blog on it as soon as I read it. The term was developed by a psychologist named Craig Malkin and he's been researching this idea for over 5 years now. While I don't want to re-hash what he's already written and said on the subject (click here to read a great article on it), I do want to go over the basic idea of what it is and how it can affect your romantic relationship.

Echoism is essentially the opposite of narcissism. While narcissists crave attention, echoists hate it. While narcissists find it difficult to empathize with others, echoists are good at it to a fault. Before you immediately think that you're an echoist just because y ...

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There are really two sides to this argument of if you can be friends with an ex: people either say you can or can't do it. Regardless of what answer people give, it normally comes from their personal experience. They may say to you something like, "Oh, I'm friends with all my exes, it's not weird" or "I tried to be friends with an ex and it was a disaster. Don't do it!" Both sides have some validity here. Is there a way to do it? Yes. Is that going to work for everyone? Definitely not. Let's dive into both sides so that you can decide for yourself if being friends with an ex is do-able and right for you. 

The Argument: You CAN be friends with an ex
I've seen it happen, but there are a couple key ingredients that are essential to making this work. Most people who decide to maintain a friendship after their relationship ends have a lot to lose. Maybe they work together or they have mutual fr ...

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They broke your heart when they said they were ending the relationship with you. You've been spending time mourning this loss, trying to recover. Then a few months later, they say they regret it and want to get back together. You're still in love with them, missing them like crazy. Do you get back together? Or walk away for good? 

In my last relationship, I did it twice. He broke up with me twice and I took him back both times. You may be saying to yourself, "What?! Michelle, what were you thinking?" The truth? I wasn't. I was just feeling the love I still had for him each time, wanting to believe that things would be different without really looking at the facts of what was before me. This is the thing about love: it messes with our ability to think clearly and face the things we don't want to see. We listen to our heart more than our head.

Is it really so simple to write off every relationship when it ...

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