Articles

Online Dating—Picking a Winner

Online Dating—Picking a Winner

Online dating today is more than just the traditional online dating websites. There are also dating apps, social media forums, video games, and many other ways to meet and connect online. In most social sites online, a person has a profile of some kind that possesses valuable information that can help you learn whether or not they would make for a good pick to date and relationship partner. And what the profile doesn’t show, you can then tactfully research and inquire about before meeting. In

2021-10-03 Randy Gilchrist Dating, Marriage preparation
Catfishing: Beware of Scammers Online

Catfishing: Beware of Scammers Online

If social media and online dating sites/apps aren’t the main way people are meeting in the 2020s, they soon will be. Online connections are becoming more and more mainstream. The common way that people today meet and interact. And while some people date and may even marry those they meet online, most will not lead to that result, just like in real life. Also, similar to real life, there are scammers out there. Frauds. Players. Charlatans. You know, those who will do a bait and switch—pretend to

2021-09-26 Randy Gilchrist Dating
Making a Good Dating Profile

Making a Good Dating Profile

In the 2020s and beyond, online dating is only getting bigger and bigger. Time limitations, geography, and many other challenges have made the convenience, flexibility, and quantity of options have helped make online dating more popular than ever. What was once seen as “desperate” is now common, acceptable, and destigmatized. In short, online dating is here to stay. There are traditional online dating websites, dating apps, and online forums and groups to choose from. Whatever your choice of

2021-09-19 Randy Gilchrist Dating
Thoughts on Relationships

Thoughts on Relationships

Over the years, I have worked with thousands of individuals and couples with all types of relationship challenges and difficulties. Relationships and especially marriage is difficult today for sure. The divorce rate has risen to 50%+ since 1976 when the no-fault divorce laws kicked in from the early 1970s. Stress, conflict, pressure, personality clashes, and multiple needs, wants, and feelings inevitably make marriages difficult, strained, and challenging. It is tough to keep them together. So

2021-09-12 Randy Gilchrist Healthy relationships
Worldly Attitudes on Marriage

Worldly Attitudes on Marriage

In Lehi and Nephi’s vision of the tree of life, a metaphorical image is given of a “great and specious building”. In this building, many popular, trendy, well dressed inhabitants cast ridicule, scorn, shame, and put downs to those holding onto the iron rod on the path towards the tree. Worldly views, attitudes, and philosophy was cast on the righteous in an attempt to lead them astray from eternal life. Accordingly, we read from Lehi’s vision: And I also cast my eyes round about, and beheld

2021-09-05 Shawn Gordon Marriage preparation, Spirituality
Attraction on Display: Danny and Sandy

Attraction on Display: Danny and Sandy

In the classic 1978 movie “Grease”, the main characters showcase what powerful male and female attraction is all about. That is mainly why this musical is still highly popular all these decades later. Danny Zuko (played by John Travolta) and Sandra “Sandy” Dee (played by Olivia Newton John) not only have a strong attraction and chemistry together, but they also demonstrate the classic, powerful traits of male and female attraction in general. Being aware of these traits can illustrate and

2021-08-30 Randy Gilchrist Understanding men, Understanding women
What is Attractive to Women?

What is Attractive to Women?

What traits initially attract a woman to a man? What mainly leads her to be open to romantically dating a man in the beginning? What helps her to have butterflies and be drawn to him? What forces differentiate a guy from “just being a friend”, to someone she would consider dating and having a relationship with? These are important questions that men are curious about and women may not be fully and consciously aware of. In other words, what a woman learns from church and society that she

2021-08-22 Randy Gilchrist Understanding women
The Creed of President George Albert Smith

The Creed of President George Albert Smith

President George Albert Smith was the church president from 1945-1951, being a general authority through the Great Depression and World War II. To be a church leader through such difficult and challenging times helped to cultivate many admirable principles and values in this great man. Many an article could be created in relation to his great words and teachings. There is one particular set of ideas from President Smith that I wanted to share in this little article that I feel can be very

2021-08-08 Randy Gilchrist Spirituality
Staying Close and Connected

Staying Close and Connected

by Dr. Randy Gilchrist, LDS Psychologist www.LDSdimension.com FREE Online Dating In dating and marriage, the honeymoon phase of infatuation will help carry a relationship from the beginning for a number of months or even a year or two. However, even the most exciting, stimulating relationship will eventually calm down, cool off, and become—gasp—mundane. No escaping it. Nothing will be new and stay new forever. Impossible. As the initial powerful butterflies calm down, a more companionate

2021-08-01 Randy Gilchrist Healthy relationships
Elements of Happiness

Elements of Happiness

One of the best things you can do to prepare for your next relationship is to learn to be happier. The happier you can become, the better. Being happy is attractive, shows security, and will help a future relationship successfully get off the ground running and nurture it from there. Of course, being happier is also important for your overall quality of life as well. Therefore, becoming happier is an excellent goal for many reasons. Elements of Happiness: In the classic book, The 7 Habits of

2021-07-25 Randy Gilchrist Healthy relationships
A Problematic Message to Women

A Problematic Message to Women

There is a You Tube channel called “Better Bachelor” (https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=better+bachelor). On this video channel, a guy nicknamed “Joker” talks about the various challenges of dating, marriage, and relationships today from the rarely given perspective of men. This channel may be more slanted or edgy than some would care for, so know that if you choose to watch any of these videos. However, some important messages are often shared on these videos that have caught my

2021-07-18 Shawn Gordon Healthy relationships, Psychological health
The Main Thing Women Want

The Main Thing Women Want

In one of my first articles for LDS Dimension/LDS Dating, I wrote an article titled, “What Women Want” (see: https://www.ldsdimension.com/articles/what-do-women-want-2/). This information and these ideas were based upon a combination of my training, education, and clinical experience as a psychologist with women, men, and couples. I’m sure my own personal experiences added to these ideas as well. In that original article, I stated that the main thing women want and need in a relationship—in my

2021-07-11 Shawn Gordon Understanding women
Different Wiring

Different Wiring

Men and women have different brains, and because of this, tend to have different ways to act and react across many different situations and circumstances. To give you a crash course on this subject, I recommend Mark Gungor. He is a speaker and author who reviews and focuses on the often funny and interesting differences between male and female brains. These differences account for so much of the differences between men and women across the board. As a crash course on the subject, you can view

2021-07-05 Randy Gilchrist Communication
Choosing to Not Be Offended?

Choosing to Not Be Offended?

Some words that ruffled more than a few feathers among church members came from the October 2006 general conference talk entitled, “And Nothing Shall Offended” by Elder David Bednar (see: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2006/10/and-nothing-shall-offend-them?lang=eng). In short, Elder Bednar shares the idea that we ultimately choose to be offended by another and that hence, we can choose not to be offended. Even more so, he recommends that we should choose to not be

2021-06-28 Randy Gilchrist Communication
Deal Breakers

Deal Breakers

As you are dating and getting to know someone, there are positive things you are hoping are there with the other, and there are other negative things you hope are not there with them. “Deal breakers” can be thought of as certain negative attributes possessed by the other person to a degree that leads you decide this will not be your future spouse. Some deal breakers are bad enough to conclude right there are then to stop dating the other person immediately. What exactly constitutes a deal

2021-06-21 Randy Gilchrist
To Move or Not to Move?

To Move or Not to Move?

One tough reality for today’s single church members with dating: do they choose to move to an area with better dating opportunities or do they stay put and do the best they can where they are? The answer to this question is completely arbitrary and up to you. However, this article will review some possible challenges to moving that need to be overcome to hopefully help with your decision. The fact is that some areas have many more single members than others—namely the bigger metros in Utah

2021-06-14 Randy Gilchrist Dating, Marriage preparation