When one partner in a relationship is unfaithful to the other, it takes a lot of work by both parties involved to salvage the relationship. In today’s therapy-friendly climate, marriage/couples counseling is often a part of that rebuilding process. Many couples seek out professional therapy after an affair is out in the open, but often the act of infidelity is revealed while uncovering and discussing unrelated issues for which the couple is in counseling. And yet, amazingly, as common as this complex and difficult topic arises in therapy, there is relatively little professional literature devoted to understanding and "treating" infidelity. In this volume, Paul Peluso has assembled a truly impressive list of contributors from a range of disciplines and backgrounds, including marital therapy, family therapy, evolutionary psychology, marriage research, and cyberstudies, with the aim of filling this void.
This book presents a five-session protocol for distressed couples to learn about what has happened to their relationship and each person's contributions to the problems, with the goal of clarifying a direction for their marriage
Your marriage is in crisis, and you've read countless books on how to make it work, but to no avail. You haven't seen sustainable change in your relationship, and you're ready to give up hope that counseling will be effective. You're weary of striving, and you may have even considered having an affair, doing violence to yourself or to your partner, or indulging in an addiction. Perhaps you already have. You cannot stomach another false promise or simplistic solution to the complex problems in your marriage, and you wonder, is there any other way? Grounds for Marriage speaks into the wreckage of broken covenants with a fresh perspective on relationship, refusing to apply flimsy bandages to fractured relationships and insisting that the core brokenness be addressed and genuinely repaired. This material helps couples and their counselors to honestly evaluate troubled marriages, providing a much-needed compassionate, sensible, hopeful, sound, and sometimes unexpected understanding of the scriptures and of relationship. Synchronizing personal story, anecdotes from her work as a Licensed Professional Counselor, and a review of literature in psychology and theology, Jade G. Stone helps couples in crisis to: --study the scriptures to determine what they say constitutes a marriage covenant --recognize how both partners contribute to failure in their marriage --heal from old wounds so they can be in covenantal relationship with God and with a covenant companion With no-nonsense directness and high-definition clarity, Stone helps you envision how human covenantal commitments must function in order to mirror intimacy with God. She presents the criteria of wholehearted covenant as a measuring stick for relational intimacy (grounds for marriage), without which you cannot determine what comprises broken intimacy (grounds for divorce). From a covenantal/relational perspective, you can maintain scriptural integrity, understanding, and wisdom as you evaluate a marriage in crisis. Grounds for Marriage includes a study guide to help readers personalize the concepts presented.
Many pastors feel ill-equipped to handle the challenges that arise when a couple is going through marital difficulties. If you are or have been in this situation before, this book shows church leaders how to counsel married couples from both a logical and biblical perspective. Author and pastor Jonathan Holmes offers you a practical guide to get started with the first sessions and then offers specific guidance on nine of the most common topics that come up in marriage counseling. In Counsel for Couples, Holmes provides you with: a biblical methodology that navigates you through the world of marriage counseling based on God’s word a theological counseling approach addressing the deepest of marital issues advice from several respected voices in the biblical counseling community In each chapter, you'll meet a new couple dealing with a different issue, much like the people in your church, office, and neighborhood. Whether you're a novice or already knowledgeable, Counsel for Couples provides theologically sound and biblically practical tools to help you as you help couples in need.
This book presents Lee Baucom's system for saving your marriage in three easy steps: connecting with your spouse, changing yourself, and creating a new path.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Over a million copies sold! “An eminently practical guide to an emotionally intelligent—and long-lasting—marriage.”—Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work has revolutionized the way we understand, repair, and strengthen marriages. John Gottman’s unprecedented study of couples over a period of years has allowed him to observe the habits that can make—and break—a marriage. Here is the culmination of that work: the seven principles that guide couples on a path toward a harmonious and long-lasting relationship. Straightforward yet profound, these principles teach partners new approaches for resolving conflicts, creating new common ground, and achieving greater levels of intimacy. Gottman offers strategies and resources to help couples collaborate more effectively to resolve any problem, whether dealing with issues related to sex, money, religion, work, family, or anything else. Packed with new exercises and the latest research out of the esteemed Gottman Institute, this revised edition of The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work is the definitive guide for anyone who wants their relationship to attain its highest potential.
Under the guidance of John MacArthur, the biblical counseling program at The Master’s College has received international acclaim, with instructors who are recognized for their exceptional ability to apply God’s truth to real-life problems. Men Counseling Men is an exciting new resource on how to counsel men about the difficulties they face. Written by the school’s faculty members, it is an accessible, practical volume that will equip both trained professionals and lay people to provide solidly biblical help for men who are struggling with a variety of major life issues. Readers will learn how they can offer hope and encouragement in relation to... depression parenting anger conflict resolution physical affliction sexual purity marital relationships rebuilding a marriage after adultery God’s Word possesses incredible power. This book will help men experience that power as they turn to the Lord for help.
Approximately fifty percent of the couples who sign a marriage license will also sign on the dotted line of a divorce document. In order to turn the tide of this stark statistic, couples who have considered or experienced separation or divorce must be given real tools to reconcile, restore, and rebuild their relationships. Marriage on the Mend provides these tools for couples in crisis. Clint and Penny Bragg know what it means to be that couple. After being divorced for eleven years and living 3,000 miles from each other, they were remarried—but the difficult work of restoration continued long after that second ceremony. The Braggs know that couples who reconcile face a unique set of challenges, including unresolved arguments, poor communication habits, unforgiveness, and betrayed trust. Biblically based materials are required to walk through this treacherous territory toward full healing and restoration. This practical, realistic book identifies roadblocks that may stall relationship progress, recommends ideas to deepen intimacy, offers solutions to effectively handle past hurts and conflicts, and applies Scripture to every aspect of the process in order to proactively stabilize and safeguard the marriage. At the end of each chapter, the Braggs include a prayer for couples to share to help facilitate healing. The one thing all broken relationships have in common is that true healing takes time. Using the framework of Nehemiah’s effort to restore Jerusalem’s walls following the Israelite’s exile and captivity, Marriage on the Mend provides a clear framework for the restoration of relationships.
Until now, couples facing the dilemma of deciding whether or not to stay in an unhappy marriage had three options: individual or couples therapy, separation, or divorce. Should I Stay or Go? provides these couples with a fourth option--the Controlled Separation (CS). CS is a compassionate process that is designed to build respect and foster advocacy between spouses. The book explains the CS guidelines, including the 12 fundamental issues that must be resolved for a workable, orderly separation. It also contains sample contracts, along with helpful checklists and self-assessment tools.