In issue 505 of One Daily Nugget, we introduced you to relationship expert John Gottman’s “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” which are highly predictive of divorce.

In today’s issue, also published by The Gottman Institute, Ellie Lisitsa dives more deeply into the first — and most common — of the four horsemen: criticism.

The key, as she points out, is not to suppress resentment, but to give voice to it in a way that doesn’t threaten the relationship. One of the key techniques in this endeavor? The “gentle start-up.”

Read on to learn more!