Ready Set Relationship Featured in Forbes: Why Healthy Conflict Matters

We're honored to share that Ready Set Relationship was recently featured in Forbes

We're honored to share that Ready Set Relationship was recently featured in Forbes, in an article exploring a question many couples quietly ask: Is it actually healthy never to fight?

The piece examines the growing cultural belief that the strongest relationships are the calmest ones—and gently challenges that assumption. Drawing on relationship research and clinical insight, the article highlights that the absence of conflict is not equivalent to emotional safety or intimacy.

One key point explored is how couples define the term 'fight'. For some, it means raised voices or harsh words. For others, it simply means discomfort or disagreement. Without a shared definition, saying "we never fight" doesn't tell us much about how a relationship actually functions.

As LouAnn Smith, LCSW, shares in the article, even people who have done a great deal of personal work still get triggered. No one is perfect. What matters most is not avoiding conflict, but learning how to move through it with awareness and repair. Avoiding tension altogether can sometimes mean avoiding vulnerability — and that can limit how deeply partners truly know one another.

The article also examines parenting. Research cited in Forbes shows that children benefit from witnessing constructive conflict, not chaos or hostility, but moments where adults disagree and then repair. When conflict leads to growth and understanding, it can help children feel more emotionally secure rather than threatened.

Rita Gazarik, LCSW, emphasizes another important insight in the piece: conflict that doesn't lead to change tends to repeat itself. Couples may smooth things over, but if nothing shifts, the same issues keep recurring. Growth comes from learning how to communicate needs clearly, listen without defensiveness, and make meaningful adjustments.

Rather than framing fighting as something to fear, the article reframes it as a skill — one that can be learned, practiced, and strengthened over time.

You can read the full Forbes article here:

How Healthy Fighting Makes Couples Stronger—and Helps Kids Feel Secure: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferpalumbo/2025/12/10/how-healthy-fighting-make-couples-stronger-and-help-kids-feel-secure/

At Ready Set Relationship, these ideas are at the heart of our Early Marriage Workshop. Couples spend time learning to define conflict in their own relationship, recognize patterns they bring from their families of origin, and practice communication tools that support repair rather than shutdown or escalation.

Healthy relationships aren't built by avoiding hard moments. They're built by learning how to meet those moments together. And these are exactly the kinds of conversations we guide couples through in our work.