Overview In the beginning of your relationship, you likely overlooked your partner’s faults and vice versa. Now, months or years down the road, it’s getting harder and harder to do that. Maybe the arguments are becoming more frequent or more escalated, or one partner shuts down whenever there’s conflict. According to Kirk Honda , professor of counseling and family therapy and host of the Psychology in Seattle podcast, some amount of this is normal in any relationship. “Long-term relationships have their ups and downs,” he says. But if there are more downs than ups in yours, you might be wondering whether you’re headed for a breakup. Take a look at the following slides to see if you recognize the signs and find out what you can do to get back on the right track