Articles by Nirali Naik
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Agape vs Paired: An Honest 2026 Comparison for Couples
Agape vs Paired, checked against live September 2026 prices: free tiers, trials, daily question mechanics, and a clear verdict on which fits your couple.
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Appreciation Buffers: How Gratitude Offsets Chore Resentment
The appreciation buffer, explained: how feeling thanked softens the sting of unequal chores, where the effect runs out, and how couples can build it.
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Deactivating Strategies in Avoidant Attachment: The Research
Where the term deactivating strategies comes from, what Fraley, Shaver, and Mikulincer measured in avoidant attachment, and where the evidence stops.
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Free Apps Like Paired: What You Actually Get
Paired's free tier is one question a day. What the genuinely free alternatives include, where each paywall lands, and the free tools that need no download.
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How Long Does Avoidant Deactivation Last? An Honest Answer
How long does avoidant deactivation last? No study gives a number. Partners report hours to weeks, and what happens between you decides which end.
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Anxious Attachment and People-Pleasing: Breaking the Cycle
Anxious attachment and people-pleasing feed each other: you over-give to keep the peace, then resent it. How to stay close without erasing yourself.
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Attachment Wounds From Previous Relationships: How to Heal
How attachment wounds from previous relationships resurface in new love, how to tell an old ghost from a real problem, and how to update your model.
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When an Avoidant Partner Comes Back: The Return Pattern
When an avoidant partner comes back, deactivation is easing, not their capacity changing. Learn what the return pattern means and how to hold it wisely.
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Relationship Maintenance Between Therapy Sessions
Relationship maintenance between therapy sessions is where change actually sticks. The check-ins, repair rituals, and habits for the other 167 hours.
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Couples Communication Styles: A Self-Assessment Guide
Map your couples communication styles with a grounded self-assessment, from assertive vs passive patterns to startup, listening, and repair tendencies.
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How to Fight Fair: 12 Rules Couples Therapists Agree On
Learn how to fight fair with 12 rules couples therapists agree on, each with the reason it matters, and how to adopt them with your partner.
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How to Find a Good Couples Therapist: A Checklist
How to find a good couples therapist: a checklist for credentials, evidence-based modality (EFT, Gottman, IBCT), fit signals, and the red flags to avoid.
Articles reviewed by Nirali Naik
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Avoidant Deactivation: Triggers, Signs, and What Helps
What triggers deactivation in dismissive- and fearful-avoidant partners: a research-grounded checklist, with what helps once the door has started to close.
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Anxious-Avoidant Cycle: Exercises to Break It
The anxious-avoidant cycle from both sides: what each partner feels, why it persists, and the evidence-based exercises that actually interrupt it.
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Attachment Styles in Adult Relationships: A Guide
The four attachment styles in adult relationships explained, with the research, real examples, and what to do when your pattern keeps resurfacing.
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DIY Marriage Counseling Exercises to Do at Home
DIY marriage counseling exercises for home: the Gottman, EFT, NVC and Imago protocols, the limits of self-guided work, and when to bring in a clinician.
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Couples Communication Exercises to Do at Home
Couples communication exercises you can do at home: scripts for hard conversations, repair after a fight, and the patterns that predict lasting closeness.
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How to Repair After a Fight: A Step-by-Step Conflict Recovery Guide for Couples
The complete guide to repair after a fight: the Gottman aftermath framework, de-escalation scripts, what to do in the next 24 hours, and how to break the loop.
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Relationship Burnout: Symptoms and What Causes It
Relationship burnout symptoms, and the reason behind them: you're asking one person to do what a village once handled. The research and the rebuild.