A Divorce Lawyer & a Marriage Therapist (Married 40 Years) Reveal How to Protect Your Marriage

Zane and I were guests on David and Julie Bulitt’s podcast, Conversations for Couples, and we connected with them right away. So this time, we turned the mic around!

Julie is a marriage and family therapist, and David is a divorce lawyer. (Yes, you read that right!) After nearly 40 years of marriage, they’ve realized they see the very same problems in their offices every day, just at different stages.

In this episode, they share how to protect your marriage before the little things turn into big things: the quiet signs a couple is drifting apart, the 5-to-1 rule for bringing up something that bugs you, and why David has never once heard a client say, “Our sex life is great, but I want a divorce.”

We also get into the money talk every couple should have before retirement, how grandparenting can quietly pull a marriage in two directions, and their “No Tech 90.” Zane and I felt like we got free counseling, and whether you’ve been married 5 years or 40, this conversation is for you!

Who are David & Julie Bulitt?

Julie Bulitt is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 25 years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families. Her private practice focuses on family, couples, and individual therapy, along with ADHD and executive functioning coaching. She also serves as the in-house therapist for Warner Bros/Discovery’s DC metro location and as a clinical supervisor for The Center for Adoption Support and Education in suburban Maryland.

David Bulitt is a partner at the Washington, DC metro law firm of Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, PA. He has repeatedly been named one of the Washington area’s top divorce lawyers and has been recognized as one of the “Best Lawyers in America” and a Washington DC Metro “Super Lawyer.” He is also the author of two fiction novels and multiple articles in legal publications, and he has appeared as a special guest on several local TV shows.

Married nearly 40 years, David and Julie have four daughters and three grandchildren. Together, they host Conversations for Couples and are the authors of two award-winning books, The Five Core Conversations for Couples (2020) and Secrets of Strong Couples (2023). Through their podcast, books, speaking events, and coaching, they share what they’ve learned from decades of professional and personal experience in an intimate, informal, and humor-filled way.

What to Expect in This Episode:

How a couples therapist and a divorce lawyer end up working with the same marriage problems, and why David encourages clients to try counseling one more time before filing
The quiet warning signs a couple is drifting apart, even when nobody is fighting
The scientific way to bring up something that bugs you to your spouse without starting a fight
Why husbands (and wives!) still need to hear “you did a good job,” even after decades of marriage
Why sex is the “car oil” of a marriage, and how David has never heard, “Our sex life is great, but I want a divorce,” in his 40 years of practice
Simple ways to protect your marriage as empty nesters, from 26 out-of-the-box date nights to dog walks and their “No Tech 90”
The money talk every couple should have before retirement, and why both spouses need to know where everything stands
How grandparenting can potentially strain a marriage, and why “we love our grandkids, but we’re not childcare” can be a boundary worth setting

Links & Resources

Where to Listen

If this episode encouraged you, I’d love for you to take a few minutes to rate and review The SavvyCast! It means so much to me, and it helps more women, like you, find these conversations and resources.

Enjoyed This Episode? Check These Out!

I Thought Intimacy with My Husband Would Never Be the Same. I Was Wrong (And Here’s What Fixed It!)

Are You Giving Your Marriage the Leftovers?