Blog for
Chris Lauzon - Therapist, LICSW

There’s a quiet moment most of us recognize—though we don’t always name it. It’s the pause after something small stings. A comment, a tone, a forgotten gesture. In that moment, we have a choice: speak, or store. Too often, we store it, and that’s where the snowball begins.

When a relationship ends, or even when we begin to fear that it might we can find ourselves in a deeply emotional space that feels startlingly similar to the grief of losing a loved one to death. It is a death in its own right: the death of shared moments, of intimacy, of dreams once nurtured together.

When we think about conflict in relationships, we often imagine explosive arguments or long-standing feuds. But what can be just as damaging (though far more subtle) is conflict avoidance. That creeping tension that builds up when couples sidestep tough conversations, suppress small annoyances, or habitually say “I don’t care” to avoid disagreement. Over time, this kind of emotional evasion can erode connection, breed resentment, and spark fights over seemingly trivial things