In this first episode of Empowered Marriage, Helen Harrison discusses the importance of and the hurdles and difficulties couples experience when dealing with emotional intimacy in a marriage.

Needy, Naggy and Controlling are behaviours born out of a wounded part in you. Instead of being an I, you've become a we and you've immersed yourself into the relationship and you don't know who you are. You don't know what you enjoy, what you like, what you're passionate about, what gets you up and gets you going.

If you're on the receiving end of someone who is needy, nagyg or controlling you may walk on egg shells, dilute yourself down, not share your inner world with your partner. Feel trapped, chained and restricted.

And if you are needy, naggy or controlling, what needs am I not getting met? Being able to fulfil those needs for yourself, but also communicating clearly. Having very good communication and speaking with respect, assertiveness to be able to say what you feel and what you need and what you want.

We all want to be authentic and real. Living with freedom, creativity, spontaneous choice, love, openness, respect, for a long-term empowered marriage.

5 secrets to a long-lasting empowered marriage:

1. Have your own identity
2. Be a team
3. A balance between positive and negative
4. Being equal
5. Letting go of the expectations

An empowered marriage is filled with love and commitment, trust and openness. You enjoy each other in your life and your marriage is filled with respect and assertive fantastic communication. There's a very strong commitment and love there. There's a trust. There's an openness.

How do we create an empowered marriage? Have your own identity, be your own person. People can lose themselves in marriage. You are your own unique individual, authentic self. Working as a team, a partnership with all that occurs in a marriage.

Being able to openly express what you're feeling. Balance the positive with the negative, being able to openly express it and talk about it. Being equals how ever that looks for you both. It's about letting go of the expectations that you have on your partner.