Tiny Shifts: Simple Changes to Radically Improve Your Relationship

Tiny shifts can completely change the trajectory of your relationship

It goes without saying: intimate relationships are complex. Two unique individuals come together in an interactive dance of emotions and behaviors that becomes their signature way of relating.

When a relationship challenge arises, improving communication skills and scheduling more date nights too often amplifies their habitual ways of being together. What’s needed is a fresh perspective on the profound, subtle, and continuous effect each partner has on the other.

Changing a relationship for the better often requires little more than a small change in awareness and behavior—a tiny yet effective shift that leads to the next tiny shift … and the next … until the couple builds reliable momentum toward the relationship fulfillment they desire.

Jake Thiessen, PhD, is a seasoned therapist with over forty-five years of experience helping couples navigate the choppy waters of contemporary relationship life. He has a master's degree in theology with a concentration in marriage and family therapy from Fuller Theological Seminary and a doctorate in family studies from Texas Tech University. For fifteen years he was a university professor teaching courses in marriage and family at Messiah University. Before graduate school he studied at the University of Grenoble, Grenoble, France, and taught English as a second language on an oasis in the Algerian Sahara. His extensive academic and experiential background informs his approach to improving the lives of couples who seek to better relate to each other.Jake was raised in a tiny town on the Kansas plains where everyone knew everyone and most of their business. Jake is father to three grown children. He has also navigated a divorce, the death of a spouse, and the dynamics of family expansion with stepchildren, a foster child, and the arrival of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He lives in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, with his current partner, Nicolee Hiltz, PhD, a psychologist who enthusiastically supports his endeavors including writing this book.

Robinson Smith is an illustrator, designer, and full-time creative director working in marketing and advertising. He uses his work to share ideas, tell stories, and communicate with viewers on behalf of his clients.Robinson was raised in central Pennsylvania, where he continues to live and work. He attended the Pennsylvania State University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in graphic design. Over the past thirty years, his work has garnered local, regional, and national recognition and has been published in a number of design periodicals and annuals.