What happens when a couple separates and starts living as if they were single people?

People who separate on a trial basis -- a vacation, some time to think -- are still married. The husband who agrees to take some time and then carries in his bad old bachelor ways probably is not giving much time to thinking about his marriage. Or, on the other hand, he may have thought and decided and he now awaits the next move by his wife. Actions speak louder than words.

When trial separations work, they take effort by both people who work independently toward a common goal. This is precisely why trial separations as a remedy for a troubled marriage are difficult.

The husband who uses the separation as an excuse to recapture the lost days of his youth is not approaching this short separation the right way.