Speaking the language
Spend any time in the Marriage Helper communities and you'll see plenty of shorthand. Here's what it all means, plus the framework acronyms we teach, spelled out.
Common abbreviations
- AP
- Affair Partner
- CORE
- Continuing Our Relationship Essentials (see acronyms)
- DD
- Discovery Day
- EA
- extramarital affair/emotional affair
- LO
- Limerent Object
- MH
- Marriage Helper
- OW/OM
- Other Woman/Other Man
- PIES
- Physical Intellectual Emotional Spiritual (see acronyms)
- RS
- Reluctant Spouse, see also WS
- SA/PA
- sex/porn addiction/physical affair
- SC
- SMART Contact (see acronyms)
- SIL/BIL/MIL/FIL
- sister/brother/mother/father in law
- SMM
- Save My Marriage
- SS
- Standing Spouse
- STOP
- Safeguards That Offer Protection (see acronyms)
- W/H
- wife/husband
- WS
- Workshop or Wayward Spouse (see also RS)
The frameworks, spelled out
PIES The four areas of attraction
- P Physical
- I Intellectual
- E Emotional
- S Spiritual
SMART Contact How to stay connected to a spouse who is pulling away
- S Stop push behaviors
- M Manage business items together (non-emotional)
- A Allow your spouse to start conversations with you
- R Respond in a way that is strong, gentle, and calm
- T Take it one day at a time
PUSH Behaviors that usually cause negative emotions
- P Pleading, begging, whining, or trying to manipulate your spouse
- U Unnecessary crying
- S Starting fights
- H Hovering, tracking, or trying to control your spouse
CORE Continuing Our Relationship Essentials
- C Continuing
- O Our
- R Relationship
- E Essentials
STOP A way to think about boundaries
- S Safeguards
- T That
- O Offer
- P Protection
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