Managing Conflict and Improving Relationships With In-Laws Marriage is not only the joining of two individuals, it is the joining of two families. Family culture, beliefs, communication styles, how to handle conflict, and so much more play an important role in the way an individual views the world, and relationships. It is fascinating to observe how family dynamics impact a marriage. I notice that people tend to have the attitude of, “I’m not marrying the family, I am marring him/her” or “I don’t need to have a relationship with his/her family we will have our own family” or “I hate my in-laws!” I feel as if it is becoming increasingly rare that there are healthy and close relationships with in-laws. Two of my closest girlfriends got married in the last two years and happen to have married guys who had a previous 4-5-year marriage. We commonly discuss how their relationships are so similar. Each of my friends have husbands whose ex-wifes cheated on them, are super close with the...