Desperately looking for change in your relationships? Follow our series on developing intimacy with your partner.

Dr. Wendy Walsh: We all know that relationships -- the foundation of our mental health -- have become highly insecure. The divorce rate is soaring and 40 percent of American babies are born out of wedlock. But there is one secret recipe to relationship success -- it is emotional intimacy. It is the glue that makes powerful relationships thrive and grow. In the next five blogs, I will teach you the building blocks of emotional intimacy. You will benefit. Your kids will benefit. And, best of all, your relationship will benefit.

Think about it. Once a home for the heart, relationships have become a mess of mistrust. A holding tank for insecurity. When our great-grandmothers got married, they may have signed up for some boredom and a few lost dreams, but they did not live with the fear that on any given day, for any reason at all, her partner could just quit!

Ironically, to protect ourselves from rejection and loss, we invest fewer emotions. Today's relationships are marked by an avoidance of emotions -- a belief that it is safer to check one's heart at the bedroom door rather than risk being truly seen and potentially judged as unlovable. And technology -- disguised as a communication aid -- supports this need to avoid by keeping us in touch while touching nothing tender. Text, email, Facebook, and Twitter are the enablers that allow us to practice false intimacy. So what's the answer to this complicated landscape? I think the winners of this paradigm shift will be the people who acquire the sharpest emotional intimacy skills.

If you have a stronger emotional bond with your partner, the sex will be more meaningful. Communication will be better. Even your kids will be more confident and secure and have the ability to create healthy love relationships later in life. Emotional connections are like super glue!

By taking small baby steps today, your relationship can grow by leaps and bounds ... and you'll feel closer than ever. So take this journey with me, and watch your emotional intimacy skyrocket like never before.

Dr. Wendy Walsh holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and her area of interest is Attachment Theory, a psychological, evolutionary and ethological theory that provides a descriptive and explanatory framework for understanding interpersonal relationships between human beings. As a psychological assistant registered with the California Board of Psychology, Dr. Walsh has treated individuals, couples and families for a variety of mental health concerns including personality disorders, anger management, eating and substance disorders, and depression. Connect with Dr. Walsh on Facebook.