(He) is likely playing the role of pleaser and nice guy,* the possibilities of changing the relationship from unhealthy and dysfunctional to thriving are tremendous. The pleaser part must be dismantled.

What the article doesn't touch on is how do men become this way? Yes, some guys are passive. But there is significant socialization, by women, for a certain kind of solicitous behavior from men. I discuss some of this in I wasn't a Nice Guy. A lot of the messaging guys get is incomplete. And then women are frustrated because we aren't meeting their expectations. It means that some guys have to become their own man and shed some behaviors they thought were what women wanted.