Being Single in a Couple's World: How to Be Happily Single While Looking for Love

You Can Be Single and Happy

Whether you are actively looking for a mate or have decided that marriage isn't what you want right now, psychotherapists Xavier Amador and Judith Kiersky can help you deal with the problems that come from being single in a couples' world.

Drawing on years of clinical experience and research with both single and married clients, Amador and Kiersky have identified the five common stumbling blocks that can get in the way of enjoying singlehood. Taking a careful look at the obstacles that cause single people the most pain, the authors have developed a four-step plan to help you achieve balance and happiness — whether or not you stay single. And the first and most challenging step is to stop buying into old-fashioned ideas about singlehood and marriage.

Combining clear advice and vivid case examples, Being Single in a Couples' World gives all of us the tools we need to find our way to a healthier self and more meaningful relationships.

Drawing on years of research and clinical experience with both married and single clients, Being Single in a Couples' World lays bare the false assumption that marriage is a mark of maturity, morality, and success, and shows how this subconscious idea can interfere with creating a fulfilling life on one's own.

Xavier Amador, Ph.D., the coauthor of When Someone You Love Is Depressed and the psychology and health contributor for NBC's weekend Today show, is Director of the Diagnoses and Evaluation Center at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Contents

Preface by Dr. Amador

Preface by Dr. Kiersky

BEING SINGLE

1. It's a Couples' World

2. Being Single Today

3. Where Do You Fit In?

4. Taking Charge

WHY ARE YOU SINGLE?

5. Stuck on the Ideal

6. The Grass Is Always Greener

7. Afraid to Make the Wrong Choice

8. Hasn't Left Home Yet

9. Never Goes All the Way

HOLDING YOUR OWN IN A COUPLES' WORLD

10. Avoiding Friendly Fire

11. Competition Among Friends

12. Feeling Invisible

Afterword