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Stephen Hedger

Stephen Hedger

Crisis Marriage Coach | Harley Street London

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The Meanings We Create For Life

Do you have a partner that never seems happy no matter what happens, or do you feel that maybe there is more to life than what you are currently getting? If so then this is critically important for you.

Meanings and emotions are massive drivers for how we experience the world so understanding how they work is of course critical if we want to be happy in it.

Many people feel the world first through their emotions and then try to make sense of what they feel inside. Many don’t question what they feel, because this is just who they are. They are so used to consistently reacting in a certain way, to them it’s totally normal, or feels like home.

This is called living in reaction and although it will feel normal it can feel quite scary too, because living this way never feels, successful or fulfilling. If the individual accepts that this is who they are, low quality living is also accepted, this can lead to a negative outlook on life, or depression, even a desire to end it all.

Living in reaction becomes very difficult to manage for both the person and those around them, because to cope with the world and stay safe many rules have to be put in place to protect them from harm. This can create major challenges in day-to-day life and especially in personal relationships. To make life more challenging the person who has created the rules, is not aware that they have done this, so the rules themselves can be destructive and outdated if the rules were created years before.

We all have rules for they way we live, most of us never really think about it.

A person can create many rules for living in emotional safety and not know what they are themselves, and so they can never tell those around them what the rules are. Those around them then break the rules without knowing causing upset, anger, frustration, shut down and many more coping strategies that don’t feel good.

If we can understand how our emotions happen then we can take steps to making them work in our favor and create safe and fulfilling lives.

So the question is what creates our emotions?

How do we get our emotions? Emotions are created at lightening speed in reaction to the world, so you can be forgiven if you don’t notice how those emotions happen.

Emotions are created from our state in the moment, our values, personal history and experiences, our beliefs, needs and other critical internal filters, from all this we create meanings and from those meanings we create emotions.

For some, they feel their meanings come first and from those meanings they create their emotions, for others the emotional response feels automatic and they then try to put a meaning to the feelings.

Whichever way you feel these emotions happen for you, either consciously, or automatically the meanings are the creators of the emotions.

The big question is how can we be sure that the meaning is true.

You see what if your mind is making up meanings so fast that you never get to really know what they are, so you can never know if your emotional responses are supporting your future happiness or not.

So if the meanings are automatic how do we get to them to understanding them and know if they are supporting us or not.

Our meanings to the world we live in are created at a subconscious level through our living experiences up to today.

Of course if your history has been distorted in some way through poor parenting, traumatic events then of course your automatic responses will reflect that and cause you trouble both now and in your future.

A persons values and the way they are meeting their values today are very reflective of both their life today and past events. In my sessions with all my clients at some point the individuals, values are understood and challenged. What we usually discover is the way they are living is unwinnable.

Just understanding what has been going on within them without them knowing is usually shock enough to change their behaviours FAST, as they start to see how life was never going to be happy and so the cost of not changing now becomes far too high.

  • I have CEO’s come to me who command corporations making millions/billions of pounds driving 1000’s of people and can’t work out why they can’t make themselves or their wife happy.
  • I see house wives who never believe they are enough as a mother or a wife.
  • I see people that have been raped, bullied, abused all discover the affect their past is having on them today.
  • Maybe you are doing all you can to please everyone in your life, you discover you don’t please anyone and especially you.

Just maybe for you this day has been along time coming…

  • If you are interested in this session with me please… Act Now!
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Stephen Hedger
Stephen Hedger
About the author:

Harley Street Expert | Founder & High Performance Coach

With two decades of experience helping couples out of crisis, Stephen the founder of The Marriage Breakthrough Program, uses his proven system for rescuing and rebuilding relationships on the edge of divorce. A trusted advisor to CEOs, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders globally, his work blends emotional intelligence with strategic clarity. Known for navigating highly complex relationship challenges, Stephen helps individuals and couples find clarity and direction when everything is at stake.

Click to find out more >>> The Marriage Breakthrough Program
Stephen Hedger
Latest posts by Stephen Hedger (see all)
  • How can we tell if we are heading for divorce? - October 19, 2025
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  • Loss of Love? How to Save Your Relationship - June 26, 2025

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Recent Case Studies

Case Study: She Was a Trained Counsellor. But Knowing What Was Wrong Wasn’t Saving Their Marriage

July 31, 2026 By Stephen Hedger

How Richard and Claire moved from preparing for separation to becoming a team against the pattern damaging their family. Richard and Claire’s names have been changed to protect their privacy. This Case Study at a Glance Clients: Married couple with two children. Claire was a trained counsellor. Starting position: Trust had almost disappeared. They were caught in […]

Case Study: She Didn’t Fall Out of Love. She Stopped Recognising Herself.

July 28, 2026 By Stephen Hedger

The hidden reason behind a six-year affair – and why the affair was never the real problem. Quick Summary Clients: David (53) and Claire (50) Married: 28 years Together since: Their teenage years Children: Two Challenge: Claire had been having an affair for six years. David believed the affair had destroyed their marriage. Claire insisted she still loved her husband […]

Case Study: They Thought They Were Arguing About the Little Things. They Weren’t.

July 25, 2026 By Stephen Hedger

How one couple stopped constant bickering when they discovered the expectations hiding underneath it Names and identifying details have been changed. By the time Mark and Rachel came to see me, they were exhausted with each other. They weren’t having enormous arguments about affairs, money or whether to stay married. They were arguing about the […]

Case Study: Her Husband Was Preparing to Move Out. So She Stopped Waiting for Him to Change.

July 21, 2026 By Stephen Hedger

Can one person begin changing a marriage when their partner is no longer convinced it can be saved? This clients story shows what happened when one woman stopped trying to persuade her husband and began changing the part of the relationship she could influence. Quick Summary ClientsA professional couple, married for approximately seven years. ChallengeHer […]

Case Study: He Built a Life for His Family. He Also Taught His Wife How to Live Without Him.

July 17, 2026 By Stephen Hedger

When James finally made his marriage a priority, Emma had already learned not to rely on him. When James began coming home earlier, he expected Emma to be pleased. Years before, she had repeatedly asked him to spend less time at work. Now he was protecting his evenings, turning down calls and making more time […]

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Recent Clients: Scotland, Ireland, Texas, New York, Dubai, Los Angeles, Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Ireland, UK, Monaco to name a few.

Stephen Hedger offers married couples in crisis across the globe a comprehensive strategic roadmap to overcome their marriage problems.

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Recent Posts

  • Before You Decide Whether to Save Your Marriage or Leave It, Read This
  • A Marriage Dies From Thousands of Cuts
  • We Can’t Solve Anything Without Making It Worse
  • “I Had Never Felt So Right… And Then So Ashamed.”
  • I’m launching the Marriage Pattern AI soon.

*Disclaimer:
Any testimonials stated on this page or on any pages on the Stephen Hedger Marriage Coach website/s are proof of our success, naturally, results may vary from person to person.

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