Articles

Would the Grass be Greener  in Another Relationship?

Would the Grass be Greener in Another Relationship?

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) When considering someone to date, when in a dating relationship, when engaged or especially when married, a normal human tendency both in and out of the church is to wonder if "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence". In other words, we wonder if another relationship besides what we are in would be better. Maybe someone else would be better looking, nicer, richer, more fun, better with

2016-09-13 Randy Gilchrist Dating, Healthy relationships, Communication
Giving Apologies

Giving Apologies

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) An apology is, by definition, "a regretful acknowledgement of an offense or failure". A couple of scriptures supporting the concept of apologies are as follows: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God." --Matthew 5:9 "For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin." --Psalms 38:18 Most of us learned growing up that when we wrong another

2016-09-12 Randy Gilchrist Healthy relationships, Communication, Conflict resolution, Psychological health, Spirituality
Temple Sealing FAQ

Temple Sealing FAQ

This document is not meant to be the definitive word on Temple Sealings, if you have a question, ask your Bishop/Stake President. What I have here is based on research and asking church leaders, but the First Presidency can always be asked for exceptions and they can ask of GOD and you might get what you asked for. We are a church lead by a Prophet, and we are encouraged to ask. We might not get the answer we want, but asking is a good thing. Let’s talk about “sealings” for a moment. In the

2016-09-03 Shawn Gordon Spirituality
Poor Marriage Role Models

Poor Marriage Role Models

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) Research and clinical experience show that children of highly troubled marriages--whether or not they stayed together or eventually divorced--are at a notably higher risk of future relationship problems themselves. Marital problems often leading to role modeling challenges include divorce, communication problems, conflict resolution issues, gender attitudes, disrespect, verbal or physical abuse, etc.

2016-09-01 Randy Gilchrist Healthy relationships, Marriage preparation, Psychological health
Intergender Communication Skills in the LDS Singles Scene

Intergender Communication Skills in the LDS Singles Scene

The #1 macro level problem I see in the LDS Singles scene, is an utter lack of understanding of the opposite sex. I guess this is more of a societal problem in general, but we can take some steps to mitigate it. Women tend to think of men as just harrier women, without much thought of how fundamentally different men and women are. This is also a problem from the male perspective, but men are much more outcome based, whereas women are process based, and this means that women will tend to

2016-08-31 Shawn Gordon Marriage preparation, Communication
First Impressions

First Impressions

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) First impressions are the initial idea you create about what a person is like/others create about you, based upon initial cues like tone of voice, body language, facial expressions, first words, and other immediate/superficial factors. Sometimes, initial impressions end up different than how we end up feelings towards or about a person. However, more often than not, the initial first impression we

2016-08-29 Randy Gilchrist Dating, Communication
Developing Dating Confidence

Developing Dating Confidence

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) A lot of times in the dating world, LDS singles can suffer from a lack of confidence as dating partners. Sometimes a person's low dating confidence comes from a lack of experience. Other confidence issues arise from rarely going out/dating, being previously "dumped"/rejected, or other previous negative dating experiences. Of course, a lack of dating confidence can also originate from a person

2016-08-22 Randy Gilchrist Dating
Developing a Positive Attitude with Dating

Developing a Positive Attitude with Dating

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) Single and LDS? Tired of the singles scene? Tired of the meat market? Then you are not alone. Many others in your situation have similar feelings. Perhaps previous dating has been unsuccessful. Maybe you have been let down, hurt, or frustrated in the past. It could be that previous promising relationships ended poorly and left you negative and pessimistic with the dating scene. Maybe after a

2016-08-11 Randy Gilchrist Dating, Healthy relationships, Communication, Psychological health
How to use Facebook effectively to meet people

How to use Facebook effectively to meet people

My husband and founder of LDS Dimension, Shawn Gordon, and I also run a group on Facebook called LDS Dating, which provides another way to meet and interact with people. After watching and helping many people meet both here and there, we have talked about things that can help people be more successful in our Facebook group. Here is the list we put together. 1.DO get involved in conversations on posts. This allows you to see who has similar ideals as yourself and may lead to continuing

2016-08-11 Carly Gordon Dating, Healthy relationships, Communication
Is He or She Compatible?

Is He or She Compatible?

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) Dating in the LDS community is flush with emotion. Is he or she the right one? Are we really compatible? Should we get engaged? How can I know for sure? These are critical questions. No pressure, but consider this classic general authority quote from President Gordon B. Hickley: “The Lord has ordained that we should marry, that we shall live together in love and peace and harmony.… The time will

2016-08-03 Randy Gilchrist Dating, Healthy relationships, Spirituality
Judgement is not a 4 letter word

Judgement is not a 4 letter word

This might be the most oft quoted and wrongly applied part of the Holy Bible: Matthew 7:1-3 King James Version (KJV) 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged. 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? I’m not sure how it is in Evangelical Christian circles, but in LDS circles, people throw

2016-07-30 Shawn Gordon Healthy relationships, Communication, Psychological health
Sexual Dysfunction in Marriage

Sexual Dysfunction in Marriage

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) As LDS members, we have all probably heard the rule of thumb in regards to the law of chastity: complete abstinence before marriage, complete fidelity after marriage. Solo sexual outlets such as pornography or masturbation are a big no no as well. Young men and women growing up in the church hear regular talks and direction on guarding their virtue, and that sex outside of marriage is the third most

2016-07-29 Randy Gilchrist Healthy relationships, Unhealthy relationships, Marriage preparation
Forgiving and Letting Go

Forgiving and Letting Go

Forgiveness means something a little different when we talk about spiritual forgiveness versus psychological forgiveness. Both are important in a different way. From the lds.org topics section (https://www.lds.org/topics/forgiveness?lang=eng), forgiveness is defined as follows: "To forgive is a divine attribute. It is to pardon or excuse someone from blame for an offense or misdeed. The scriptures refer to forgiveness in two ways. The Lord commands us to repent of our sins and seek His

2016-07-25 Randy Gilchrist Dating, Healthy relationships, Psychological health
Stop Being a Hermit and Get Out!

Stop Being a Hermit and Get Out!

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) A hermit is a person who is a homebody that rarely leaves the house beyond going to work or the store. A hermit socializes with others little and rarely goes out on dates (if ever). A hermit has largely given up socializing with most other people in general. They often possess social anxiety and/or social pessimism. Do you know a person like this? Are you a person like this? If so, the isolation and

2016-07-18 Randy Gilchrist Dating
Mind Reading in Relationships

Mind Reading in Relationships

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com (FREE LDS online dating site) Back in 1994 at Brigham Young University, I did what most students did at that place at that time: take a marriage preparation course. I don't remember much from that course except for a particular section regarding expecting mind reading in relationships, and what a problem this can lead to. According to my professor and the text book, there is a common, troublesome phenomenon known as the "tender

2016-07-10 Randy Gilchrist Understanding men, Understanding women, Healthy relationships, Marriage preparation, Communication, Psychological health
Facebook Fakers

Facebook Fakers

How do you more easily spot fake profiles and fake groups on Facebook? What is a fake group about? While this article is generally useful in spotting fake profiles and groups, it is written around a specific use case scenario targeting a specific religious group. In this case we are looking at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS or Mormons) and what some fringe groups do to try and draw faithful members in and then inundate them with a bunch of garbage. A few years ago a

2016-07-02 Shawn Gordon Communication