Based on the #1 top selling book worldwide?the Bible?the Fundamentals of Marriage is an engagingly, insightful and interactive workbook that explores 8 essential practices vital to marital success.There's no fancy formulas or hoops to jump through to understand the roles, responsibilities and expectations outlined in the Bible to take your relationship to the next level. The chapters in this workbook will help you:? Master your communication by learning how to speak & understand the language of your spouse? Champion & bring out the best in each other? Conquer grudges and resentment through utilizing effective forgiveness techniques? Manage and direct your finances as a team; and then,? Discover and work towards the purpose and vision God blessed you with so you can become the Power Couple he intended you to be.Each chapter presents:? A short reading? Personal reflection? Discussion questions? His & her perspectives? Case studies highlighting real stories from real couples. This workbook is perfect for those who are seriously dating, engaged or married and want to start their marriage off right.? Are you a facilitator planning to use this workbook to lead a small group or church setting? Visit marriageondeck.com/leader for tips on how to lead the class and get access to related videos.
Just as Masters and Johnson were pioneers in the study of human sexuality, so Dr. John Gottman has revolutionized the study of marriage. As a professor of psychology at the University of Washington and the founder and director of the Seattle Marital and Family Institute, he has studied the habits of married couples in unprecedented detail over the course of many years. His findings, and his heavily attended workshops, have already turned around thousands of faltering marriages. This book is the culmination of his life's work: the seven principles that guide couples on the path toward a harmonious and long-lasting relationship. Straightforward in their approach, yet profound in their effect, these principles teach partners new and startling strategies for making their marriage work. Gottman helps couples focus on each other, on paying attention to the small day-to-day moments that, strung together, make up the heart and soul of any relationship. Being thoughtful about ordinary matters provides spouses with a solid foundation for resolving conflict when it does occur and finding strategies for living with those issues that cannot be resolved. Packed with questionnaires and exercises whose effectiveness has been proven in Dr. Gottman's workshops, The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work is the definitive guide for anyone who wants their relationship to attain its highest potential. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work is the result of Dr. John Gottman's many years of closely observing thousands of marriages. This kind of longitudinal research has never been done before. Based on his findings, he has culled seven principles essential to the success of any marriage. Maintain a love map. Foster fondness and admiration. Turn toward instead of away. Accept influence. Solve solvable conflicts. Cope with conflicts you can't resolve. Create shared meaning. Dr. Gottman's unique questionnaires and exercises will guide couples on the road to revitalizing their marriage, or making a strong one even better.
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.
In their 30 years of shared ministry and marriage, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa pastor Brian Brodersen and his wife, speaker and author Cheryl Brodersen, watched many couples struggle to build a lasting, fulfilling relationship. With the desire to understand God's path for their union, the Brodersens' turned to the Bible and learned how to view and experience marriage as an incredible gift from God. Now they share the ten essential "E" principles they discovered, showing readers how to: Entrust the relationship to God Eliminate unhealthy expectations Encourage one another Enlighten with spiritual truth Energize the relationship Endure by standing together in faith In this biblical and practical resource, newlyweds and longtime married couples will embrace the wholeness of God's plan for them to have the very best human love experience possible.
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.
Drawing on his experience of forty years as a psychiatrist, Dr. Richard Fitzgibbons presents twelve habits that can foster healing and growth in Catholic marriages. This books helps couples to identify and resolve the major emotional conflicts that weaken their relationships and hurt their marriages. Habits for a Healthy Marriage is unique because it draws on the field of positive psychology, which focuses on growth in virtues. Each chapter names a common marital problem along with a particular virtue that can help couples to overcome that problem. It shows that the road to healing is paved with forgiveness, not only between spouses but also within their families of origin. Along the way the author incorporates the luminous writing of Saint John Paul II on marriage and the timeless wisdom of the Catholic Church. Whether you are newly engaged, recently married, or married for many years, the conflict-resolving strategies described in this book—the habits of a healthy marriage—can help you to protect your relationship from the emotional storms that often lead to quarrelling and mistrust, and sometimes to separation and divorce.
This is the first book to provide a comprehensive, multidisciplinary overview of evidence-based relationship and marriage education (RME) programs. Readers are introduced to the best practices for designing, implementing, and evaluating effective RME programs to better prepare them to teach clients how to have healthy intimate relationships. Noted contributors from various disciplines examine current programs and best practices, often by the original developers themselves. Readers learn to critically appraise approaches and design and implement effective, evidence-based programs in the future. Examples and discussion questions encourage readers to examine issues and apply what they have learned. The conceptual material in Parts I & II provides critical guidance for practitioners who wish to develop, implement, and evaluate RME programs in various settings. Chapters in Parts III & IV follow a consistent structure so readers can more easily compare programs-- program overview and history, theoretical foundations, needs assessment and target audience, program goals & objectives, curriculum issues, cultural Implications, evidence based research and evaluation, and additional resources. This book reflects what the editor has learned from teaching relationship development and family life education courses over the past decade and includes the key information that students need to become competent professionals. Highlights of the book’s coverage include: Comprehensive summary of effective evidence-based RME training programs in one volume. Prepares readers for professional practice as a Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE) by highlighting the fundamentals of developing RME programs. Describes the challenges associated with RME program evaluation. The book opens with a historical overview of RME development. It is followed by 20 chapters divided in six parts. The initial four chapters focus on fundamentals of relationship and marriage education --program development, required training, delivery systems, and implementation. The three chapters in Part II consider important conceptual and theoretical frameworks used in RME. Part III considers best practices in inventory based programs while Part IV examines six skills-based programs. The chapters in Parts III and IV consider program overview and history, theoretical foundations, needs assessment and target audience, program goals and objectives, curriculum issues, cultural implications, evidence-based research & evaluation, and additional resources. This content covers four categories of effective programs -- design and content, relevance, delivery and implementation, and assessment and quality assurance. Part V presents evidence-based RME with diverse groups and Part VI reviews future directions. Intended for use in advanced undergraduate or graduate courses in relationship and marriage education, family life education, marriage and relationship counseling/therapy, intimate relationships, relationship development, or home/school/community services taught in human development and family studies, psychology, social work, sociology, religion, and more, this ground-breaking book also serves as a resource for practitioners, therapists, counselors, clergy members, and policy makers interested in evidence based RME programs and those seeking to become Certified Family Life Educators or preparing for a career in RME.
Now in its second edition, this text introduces readers to the rich history and practice of Marriage and Family Therapy, with 32 professionals from across the US presenting their knowledge in their areas of expertise. This blend of approaches and styles gives this text a unique voice and makes it a comprehensive resource for graduate students taking their first course in Marriage and Family Therapy. The book is divided into three sections: Part 1 focuses on the components on which 21st century family therapy is based and summarizes the most recent changes made to not only therapeutic interventions, but to the very concept of “family.” Part 2 presents an overview of the 7 major theoretical models of the field: structural, strategic, Milan, social constructionist, experiential, transgenerational, and cognitive-behavioral family therapy. Each chapter in this section • Focuses on the founder of the theory, its theoretical tenants, and its key techniques • Shows how the model focuses on diversity • Presents the research that supports the approach Part 3 addresses specific treatment areas that are common to marriage and family therapists, such as sex therapy, pre-marital therapy, research, and ethics and legal issues. As an introduction to the field of Marriage and Family Therapy, this volume stands above the rest. Not only will readers gain an understanding of the rich history of the field and its techniques, but they will also see a complete picture of the context in which families are embedded, such as gender, culture, spirituality, and sexual orientation. This knowledge is the key to understanding what differentiates Marriage and Family Therapy from individual psychotherapy. Glossaries, case studies, tables, figures, and appendices appear generously throughout the text to present this information and give students a thorough overview to prepare them for their professional lives.
“After years of debate and inquiry, the key to a great marriage remained shrouded in mystery. Until now...”—Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success Eli J. Finkel's insightful and ground-breaking investigation of marriage clearly shows that the best marriages today are better than the best marriages of earlier eras. Indeed, they are the best marriages the world has ever known. He presents his findings here for the first time in this lucid, inspiring guide to modern marital bliss. The All-or-Nothing Marriage reverse engineers fulfilling marriages—from the “traditional” to the utterly nontraditional—and shows how any marriage can be better. The primary function of marriage from 1620 to 1850 was food, shelter, and protection from violence; from 1850 to 1965, the purpose revolved around love and companionship. But today, a new kind of marriage has emerged, one oriented toward self-discover, self-esteem, and personal growth. Finkel combines cutting-edge scientific research with practical advice; he considers paths to better communication and responsiveness; he offers guidance on when to recalibrate our expectations; and he even introduces a set of must-try “lovehacks.” This is a book for the newlywed to the empty nester, for those thinking about getting married or remarried, and for anyone looking for illuminating advice that will make a real difference to getting the most out of marriage today.
In Ten Lessons to Transform Your Marriage, marital psychologists John and Julie Gottman provide vital tools—scientifically based and empirically verified—that you can use to regain affection and romance lost through years of ineffective communication. In 1994, Dr. John Gottman and his colleagues at the University of Washington made a startling announcement: Through scientific observation and mathematical analysis, they could predict—with more than 90 percent accuracy—whether a marriage would succeed or fail. The only thing they did not yet know was how to turn a failing marriage into a successful one, so Gottman teamed up with his clinical psychologist wife, Dr. Julie Schwartz Gottman, to develop intervention methods. Now the Gottmans, together with the Love Lab research facility, have put these ideas into practice. What emerged from the Gottmans’ collaboration and decades of research is a body of advice that’s based on two surprisingly simple truths: Happily married couples behave like good friends, and they handle their conflicts in gentle, positive ways. The authors offer an intimate look at ten couples who have learned to work through potentially destructive problems—extramarital affairs, workaholism, parenthood adjustments, serious illnesses, lack of intimacy—and examine what they’ve done to improve communication and get their marriages back on track. Hundreds of thousands have seen their relationships improve thanks to the Gottmans’ work. Whether you want to make a strong relationship more fulfilling or rescue one that’s headed for disaster, Ten Lessons to Transform Your Marriage is essential reading.
