Explicit
A blog for the Self-Connected woman.
Whether you’re struggling with an avoidant partner, longing to feel valued, or healing from a breakup, this blog goes beyond surface-level advice and gives you the tools to build the kind of connection you’ve always craved.
I’m Colette Jane Fehr
I’m a therapist, TEDx speaker, and Big 5 author, and I’ve spent years helping people find lasting joy within themselves and their relationships.

The Truth About Breakups (Even If It’s Not What You Want to Hear…)
Whether you saw it coming or got blindsided, losing someone you loved (or even just thought you loved) can feel like your whole world is crumbling. It’s messy, painful, and can make you question everything—yourself, your choices, even the meaning of love.

3 Ways You’re Fucking Up Your Apologies (And How to Do Them Right)
Apologizing isn't always as simple as saying "I'm sorry." In fact, there are common mistakes that can make an apology feel worse instead of better. In this post, we break down three ways you're likely messing up your apologies—and how to do it right. Learn how to take accountability, show up for your partner's feelings, and truly repair any rupture in your relationship.

10 Insights into Your Avoidantly-Attached Partner
10 Insights into Your Avoidantly-Attached Partner
If you’re in a relationship with someone who has an avoidant attachment style, you might feel like they’re emotionally distant, hard to reach, or even uninterested in deep connection. But the truth is, avoidantly-attached partners do want connection—they just have protective strategies that unintentionally sabotage intimacy.
Understanding their inner world can help you shift frustration into empathy and build a stronger, more connected relationship. Here are 10 key insights into why they behave the way they do.

The Secret to a Thriving Relationship: Feeling Valued by Your Partner
Have you ever wondered how to make your relationship stronger, more intimate, and filled with trust? Well, there's one key aspect that can make all the difference: feeling important to each other.
Why Feeling Important is Crucial: At the end of the day, we all want to feel valued and appreciated, especially by our partners. We long to feel like we come first—that our partners will respond to us quickly and empathetically when we need them. Knowing that you hold a special place in their life brings you closer, strengthens your bond, and builds trust. This assurance gives you the confidence to be vulnerable, sharing your deepest thoughts and emotions without holding back.

Navigating Love in the Spotlight: Lessons from JLo and Ben Affleck’s Divorce
Yesterday’s news of the divorce between Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck has sparked conversations worldwide, not just because of their celebrity status, but because their relationship—like many high-profile romances—highlights the unique challenges that come with love in the public eye. While their story may seem distant from our everyday lives, there are valuable lessons we can all learn from their experience.

Mastering the Art of Repair
Mastering the Art of Repair : In the pursuit of a long-lasting, fulfilling relationship, one crucial skill that often goes overlooked is the art of repair. Cultivated from empathy and understanding, this skill helps couples overcome conflicts, deepen their connection, and create a resilient bond that can withstand life's challenges. In this blog post, we'll explore the key steps in mastering the art of repair, allowing you to build a relationship that not only endures but thrives.

How to be a good partner
We spend a lot of time focused on our partners and what we want them to change but to improve our relationships it’s much more effective to look at ourselves.
In the realm of relationships, being a good partner is an art that necessitates understanding, patience, and a whole lot of love. It's not just about grand gestures or romance, often, it's the little daily things that count most. So, how does one become a good partner? Let's delve into the top five ways.

Are You Asking The Right Questions?
What irritates you most about your partner?
I bet you can answer without batting an eye.
If you’ve been in your relationship for any length of time, it’s only natural that you’d have some frustrations. Being intimately entwined with another human being creates friction. Plus our brains are wired to focus on the negative as a survival mechanism.

The Most Important Relationship You Have is with Yourself
A securely attached partnership starts with a deeply connected relationship to yourself.
You’ve got to prioritize true self care, and that means getting to know your inner world and tending to your spirit with love and compassion.
Too often we put our partners, and sometimes everyone else first.

For Phubbs Sake, Don’t Let This Damage your Relationship!
If you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about, it’s the digital addiction epidemic that’s damaging our relationships in daily micro interactions. I’m referring to the phubbing phenomenon—ignoring your partner for your cell phone, or vice versa—that can have long-term consequences on your relationship.

Why You’re Really Getting Stuck in Your Relationship and What to Do About It
Have you ever wondered why even the tiniest most insignificant things can lead you into intense arguments or painful spirals of disconnection?
I often hear from couples that they’re baffled by how bad things got between them when the original issue was a big nothing burger— something that didn’t really matter much to either of them— such as what shape to cut the baby’s carrots, turning left when the restaurant was actually on the right, and leaving a half-eaten bowl of Ben and Jerry’s on the kitchen counter next to the sink rather than in it.

7 Strategies to Help You Get Heard
If you’re anything like me or the many women I work with, then one of the things you long for most from your partner is to be heard. There’s nothing like the connection that surges between you when the person you love looks you in the eye and says, I get it. Yet these simple but powerful bonding moments can remain maddeningly elusive…
Start your journey
I can help you understand the attachment dynamics in your relationship, identify where you’re getting stuck, and improve the way you communicate. Let’s do this!