Road trip season is upon us! In fact, I just returned from an 8.5 hour drive with my partner, @VerityBrandon. We spent the weekend at Wanderlust in the Vermont mountains (near Stratton) where we practiced Yoga, hiked to several peaks and spread good vibrations in the Soul Pleasure tent with We-Vibe and Womanizer.

Here are a few pics from the weekend…

Road trips can be a great way to spend time with your loved ones, but they can also be stressful, so I joined Carolyn and Jeff this morning to share a few tips and insights on how to make the most of your time on the road.

Check out the notes and full video below.

1. Do most people enjoy a long road trip or is it normal to fight?

It’s common to experience tension or argue while on a road trip because tensions are high when you have so little control over your environment. You can’t control traffic, road closures or inclement weather and this lack of control can lead to stress which involves an increase in cortisol...

Research suggests that over a third of Canadians have lied to their partner about money and an equal number of been on the receiving end of financial infidelity. Jess has worked with more cases of financial infidelity than she can count, so she joined Carolyn and Jeff to discuss this hot topic on The Morning Show today.

1. What is financial infidelity?

Financial infidelity can take many forms. It might involve hiding money, lying about debt or income, inflating or deflating figures, falsifying records or using financial power to manipulate your partner. It can wreak havoc on a relationship, but it can also be a symptom of relationship troubles as opposed to the root issue itself. Oftentimes it stems from telling smaller lies at the beginning of the relationship, which snowball into additional lies intended to support the original falsehood.

2. Why do people lie about money?

Oftentimes, it’s related to shame and judgment, but there are many reasons why one might be inclined to...

Research suggests that lying is a regular part of our daily interactions, so Jess sat down with Carolyn and Jeff on Global TV's The Morning Show to discuss the research in terms of prevalence, consequences and how to overcome a lie. Check out the video and summary below.

What do people lie about in dating and relationships?

Research suggests that we tend to lie about the following topics in our dating profiles:

Appearance - Both men and women are likely to lie about physical characteristics such as height (50% have lied and men are more likely to stretch the truth) and weight (women are more likely to subtract pounds — an average of 8.5 for women and 1.5 for men).

Age and Income - Whether they round down to the lower age bracket or round up to a higher income bracket, both men and women are dishonest in this department. If your love interest is sporting fashion or a hairstyle from another decade in their profile pic, they might be lying about their age. Daters also tend...

This morning on The Morning Show, Jess sat down with Jeff and Carolyn to address YOUR relationship questions. Check them out below, along with her video interview.

I love my wife and we have always had a pretty good relationship, but lately we are starting to feel more like roommates and I feel like we’re in a rut. How do we reset and give our marriage a makeover?

You’re already on the right track, because you opened with the positive: you’ve always had a good relationship and you know that this rut isn’t permanent.

Oftentimes, advice related to breaking out of a rut focuses on injecting novelty, but I suggest you look to the past to shape the future:

Can you identify what made your relationship so great in the past? Can you make a list of what you used to do well and can you make adjustments to restart some of these behaviours or rituals? If you look back a few years, what did you do differently? Did you spend more time with friends? Did you spend more...

More Millennials are delaying sex and some experts say that technology and porn are to blame.

"Millennials have been brought up in a culture of hypersexuality, which has bred a fear of intimacy,” psychoanalytic psychotherapist Susanna Abse of the Balint Consultancy told the Sunday Times.

Others suggest that young people are so engrossed in digital relationships that they don’t have the time or skills to develop real-life connections. They theorize that their commitment to their phones, friends and careers has made them fearful of relationship commitment.

Jess doesn’t necessarily disagree, so she sat down with Jeff McArthur to discuss this study and its findings this morning on The Morning Show.

What did this study find?

A study called The Next Steps project examined data of more than 16,000 young people born in 1989 and 1990 starting when they were 14 years old. They found that millennials are delaying intercourse and that 1 in 8 consider themselves virgins at age...

Jeff and Carolyn may not be in the dating market, but that didn’t stop them from creating mock profiles to solicit feedback from Jess. Check out Jess’ advice for crafting effective online dating profiles in the video and notes below.

Make your profile photo pop. Present a clear photo of our face (preferably smiling) and do not include anyone else in the photo, as you do not want viewers to have to guess which face is yours. Online dating moves at a rapid pace, so if your message isn’t clear from the onset or they have to do work to figure out what you’re trying to convey, most folks will swipe away. Take a photo specifically for your dating profile rather than using one from your highlight reel in which you’re all glammed-up and try not to crop photos other than to fit the sizing requirements.

Tell a story with your supplementary photos. Include a few additional photos that illustrate who you are and what you value. How do you normally spend your...

Couples often find themselves in a rut in which bickering and frustration become the norm. They’re so exhausted by the demands of work, family, kids and personal commitments that they have no patience left for one another. Or they’ve allowed small frustrations to build up without addressing them so they snap at one another over seemingly innocuous things. It follows that many couples desire a reset. They want to start over with a blank slate, but despite the intension, they struggle to reconnect.

Jess joined Jeff & Carolyn this morning on Global TV's The Morning Show. She walked them through an exercise she tends to use with couples, but she made an exception this time. Here's how you do it:

• Sit or lie next to one another with your foreheads touching and start to breathe in sync for eleven deep breaths.
• It will likely feel a little weird and distracting at first (and if you don’t brush your teeth you might feel self conscious), but as you slip into the 3rd and...

When we think of healthy relationships, we often think of marriage and intimate relationships, but the relationships you foster with friends, neighbours and co-workers can also have a significant impact on your well being. Daily interactions can affect your stress levels, sleep, mental health, self-esteem and even your cardiovascular health. This is why more business partners and entrepreneurs are investing in the quality of their workplace relationships.

Earlier today, Jess joined Carolyn and Jeff on The Morning Show to discuss one strategy to improve workplace interactions. Jess lead them through an exercise that people can try with both couples and business partners. This is an exercise designed to address the gratitude gap.

We already know that the benefits of expressing gratitude range from the physical to the emotional — gratitude is associated with lower blood pressure, greater life satisfaction, lower rates of depression and anxiety, greater empathy,...

After sitting on the squatty-potty in heels last week, the fine folks at The Morning Show still invited Jess back for the Ask Dr. Jess segment this morning on Global TV. She joined Jeff and Carolyn to address questions from viewers across Canada.

Since I got married, my best friend has been distant. I’ve heard she’s jealous of my new husband and felt left out of the wedding despite being my Maid of Honour. How do I handle this?

Oftentimes our first instinct is to respond to jealousy with frustration, criticism and hostility when we’d be much better off leading with empathy. When someone is jealous of another relationship (e.g. with your spouse), it’s often a sign that they’re feeling neglected or unworthy; they may also be scared of losing you. If you can consider how they’re really feeling (fearful or unworthy) as opposed to focusing specifically on how they’re acting (distant), you’ll probably show more empathy from the onset.

If...

We all know that a happy relationship with your partner can affect your health, happiness and even your pocketbook, but friends also play an important role in life satisfaction and overall well-being.

Jess co-hosted with expert nutritionist, Kyle Buchanan, on Global TV's The Morning Show with Carolyn MacKenzie. They discussed friendships and strategies for making friends in your 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond.

Check out the videos and summary below.

With online relationships and communication, do we have as many in-person friend as we used to?

Research suggests that we lose friends as we get older and one in five of us feels lonely.

Why is having friends so important?

Not only do the happiest and healthiest people have the strongest social ties, but happiness among friends is contagious.  A Harvard Medical School study of 5,000 people suggests that one person’s happiness spreads through their social group even up to three degrees of separation with the...