Marriage Development

Written after his wife's tragic death as a way of surviving the "mad midnight moments", A Grief Observed is C.S. Lewis's honest reflection on the fundamental issues of life, death, and faith in the midst of loss. This work contains his concise, genuine reflections on that period.

For decades, Kathleen Buhle chose to play the role of the good wife, beginning when, as a naïve young woman from a working-class family on the South Side of Chicago, she met the dashing son of a senator in Oregon. Within months, Kathleen found herself pregnant and engaged. Determined to build her family on a foundation of love, Kathleen was convinced her and Hunter’s commitment to each other could overcome any obstacle. But when Hunter’s drinking evolved into dependency, she was forced to learn how irrevocably a marriage can fall apart under the merciless power of addiction.

Most couples - because they watch so many of their peers divorce and are themselves the products of failed marriages - don't have many successful long-term-relationship role models. Parenting and communication issues are perennial, while some challenges, like increasingly 24-7 work lives and economic hardships, mark the current decade. Despite all this, psychotherapist and clinical social worker Marcia Naomi Berger asserts that most couples can make love last - they just need to learn how.

Relationships are incredibly rewarding, but the truth is that they require a lot of hard work. If you want lasting love, you absolutely have to put some effort in. This book, which explores the more practical aspects of building a life with the person you love, will resonate with couples ready to embrace honesty in the name of strengthening their bond and anyone else committed to understanding intimacy for what it really is.

Professional matchmaker and relationship coach Jackie Dorman shares the teaching that has helped countless single women just like you get out of their own way and get married in less than one year. Whether you haven't dated for years or have never dated at all, it doesn't matter. Married in 12 Months or Less is your personal guide on dating, overcoming past relationship trauma, and meeting the love of your life.

Why do more than half of all marriages end in divorce? And why is there so much unhappiness in the marriages that survive? Greg Baer offers the solutions for a long-lasting marriage in his anticipated follow-up to Real Love: The Truth About Finding Unconditional Love and Fulfilling Relationships. No matter how many wounds have been inflicted in a marriage, Greg Baer believes that they can be healed, giving both partners the sense of fulfillment and joy they’ve always wanted.

Byron Tully, author of The Old Money Book, reveals the secrets and strategies used by America's upper class that contribute to a vibrant, fulfilling, and enduring married life. From dating around to settling down, everything you need to know and every question you need to ask yourself - and your potential mate - is detailed here. So, if you're really committed to meeting the right person, making your marriage work, and making it last, this is the book for you.

Discover the truth he wants you to know! The man in your life is keeping secrets. They’re so deep inside he barely knows they're there, much less how to talk to you about them. Yet he genuinely wants you to "get" him - to understand his inner life, his fears, his needs... In her landmark best seller For Women Only, Shaunti Feldhahn reveals what every woman - single or married - needs to know.

BPD and NPD expert Randi Kreger provides targeted resources to help you build the confidence you need to navigate your relationship safely and effectively. Packed with in-depth information and proven-effective skills, this guide will help you evaluate your relationship, discover what you truly want and need, and gain the courage needed to make healthy decisions.

Most marriages survive by gritting teeth and holding on. But what if surviving marriage wasn't the goal? What if we aimed to thrive instead? In Cherish, Thomas teaches us that although there are a countless number of marriages consisting of two people just going through the motions, there are real ways this pattern can be reversed: when husbands and wives learn to cherish one another in their everyday actions and words.

Imagine the pain and devastation of discovering your partner has had an affair. The betrayal, the hurt, and the feeling of being torn apart from the person you once loved. You may feel like your world has been turned upside down, leaving you wondering if your relationship can ever be healed. But what if there was a way to mend the wounds and rebuild trust? This groundbreaking book reveals the secrets to healing your spouse after an affair, from understanding their perspective to providing the necessary support.

The High-Conflict Couple adapts the powerful techniques of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) into skills you can use to tame out-of-control emotions that flare up in your relationship. Using mindfulness and distress tolerance techniques, you'll learn how to deescalate angry situations before they have a chance to explode into destructive fights. You'll discover ways to manage problems with negotiation, not conflict, and to find true acceptance and closeness with the person you love the most.

Rumination—obsessive thinking about an idea, situation, or choice that can interfere with normal life—is a common and destructive issue that can negatively impact romantic relationships. You may feel anxious, worried, hopeless, and frustrated, but even if you know your overthinking is a problem, it can be seriously hard to stop. In Stop Overthinking Your Relationship, certified couples therapist Alicia Muñoz draws from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness to offer an effective, four-step approach to reduce rumination and change negative thinking patterns.

In her candid and provocative memoir, Wide Open, Gracie details the years she has spent exploring the poly lifestyle and creating her "chosen family." A fiercely intelligent feminist, she challenges traditional ideas about monogamy, fidelity, and sexuality. From swinger parties and strip clubs to sex toys and pornography, this is an edgy and thought-provoking read. Yet erotica and tenderness share space here, with Gracie's true love for both Hank and Oz—as well as her two children—coming through very clearly.

It can be hard when you are the partner with a higher sex drive. You can be left feeling rejected, unattractive, frustrated, and confused–and it’s likely your spouse doesn’t even realize you feel this way. And if you are the partner with the lower drive, you feel guilty, pressured, and frustrated, not sure how to move past this roadblock.

Tony and Lauren Dungy have together known the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. They fell in love, built a family, and made sports history when Tony became the first African-American head coach to win the Super Bowl. Yet they've also gone through difficult, relationship-testing setbacks, including job loss and devastating personal tragedy. In a culture where it seems harder and harder to make marriage last, what has kept the Dungys strong through it all?

Has sex been a source of frustration or pain in your marriage? Celebrating God's beautiful purposes for sex, biblical counselor Scott Mehl helps couples to put God-glorifying sexuality into practice.

Can you strengthen your bond, grow together, and enjoy deeper levels of love and intimacy that rival your newlywed days? And can you do any or all of that without having to digest mountains of self-help books, or pouring your hearts out to a total stranger in endless counseling sessions? Even the best marriages can have cracks in their relationships. The difference is that extraordinary couples take action when they see those cracks happening.

100% of marriages that end in divorce are cited for "irreconcilable differences." Things that brought couples together are now tearing them apart. Simple occasional frustrations have morphed into everyday fights causing complex fractures. Marriages are miserable, families are affected, and the equation for a marriage made one is elusive. In Two Equals One, Jimmy and Irene Rollins introduce you to a solution that is counter-cultural to a society that encourages you to give up, to not give your spouse any more chances, or use pain as permission to step out on your spouse.

What makes love last? Why does one couple stay together forever, while another falls apart? And most importantly, is there a scientific formula for love? Drs. John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman are the world’s leading relationship scientists. For the past forty years, they have been studying love. They’ve gathered data on over three thousand couples, looking at everything from their body language to the way they converse to their stress hormone levels. Their goal: to identify the building blocks of love.