Synopses & Reviews
Every marriage has problems. The pressures are real and never let up: money, children, fidelity, the endless little decisions. So when one shares their troubles, every other couple can relate—and learn.
Riveting in their "she said, he said" format and filled with intimate detail, the dozens of real-life stories in Seven Secrets of a Happy Marriage draw readers behind the closed doors of other people's lives and into the therapist's office, where conflicts are laid bare and solutions tendered.
And as the editors of the Ladies' Home Journal column "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" have learned in five decades of publication, these profiles of marriages in crisis reveal the seven underlying truths of successful relationships: trust, communication, fair fights, a balance of power, an understanding about money, good sex, and the willingness to make your partner your priority.
An interactive workbook section with quizzes, self-appraisals, and exercises helps readers and their spouses recognize and resolve their own trouble spots.
Synopsis
There's good reason why the
Ladies' Home Journal's "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" is the most popular and enduring women's magazine column in history. Profiling real-life case studies of marriages in crisis and each couple's efforts to find happiness, the stories are riveting and the advice, from professional marriage therapists, is keenly insightful, revealing the central truths of successful relationships.
"Can This Marriage Be Saved?" has celebrated its 50th anniversary and reappears in book form as Seven Secrets of a Happy Marriage. With a new introduction by the son of the column's first marriage counselor; a new interactive workbook section; and 30% new material, Seven Secrets of a Happy Marriage uses the column's most memorable cases to illuminate the essential steps to creating a marriage that works: Build Trust, Communicate, Fight Fair, Defuse Power Struggles, Balance the Bottom Line, Keep Intimacy Alive, and Be Partners, Not Just Parents. Central to the book is the column's enormously appealing "he says, she says, counselor says" format; the constructive, universally relevant counsel; and, of course, the fascinating and intimate access inside other people's lives--such as one couple whose marriage was salvaged from the ruins of the World Trade Center. You hear it all.
About the Author
For the past twenty years, Margery D. Rosen has edited the "Can This Marriage Be Saved" column for the Ladies' Home Journal.
Table of Contents
Secret #1: Deepen Trust (1)andquot;My husband is Having an Affairandquot; (4)
andquot;I Can't Face Another Christmas with This Manandquot; (11)
andquot;I had a Fling with My Bossandquot; (18)
andquot;My Husband is Sleeping with My Best Friendandquot; (24)
andquot;He Placed a Personal Adandquot; (30)
andquot;He Drinks Too Muchandquot; (35)
andquot;My Secret is Destroying Our Marriageandquot; (41)
Secret #2: Communicate (49)
andquot;He Criticizes Everything I Doandquot; (53)
andquot;My Perfect Husband Wants Outandquot; (59)
andquot;We Have Nothing in Common Anymoreandquot; (65)
andquot;He Always Tunes Me Outandquot; (72)
andquot;He's Ashamed of Meandquot; (79)
andquot;He Expects Me to Give Up My Lifeandquot; (85)
andquot;He's So Irresponsibleandquot; (91)
andquot;Our Baby was Stillbornandquot; (98)
Secret #3: Fight Fair
andquot;My Husband is so Moodyandquot; (110)
andquot;He Says I'm Pushing Him Awayandquot; (117)
andquot;He's Never There for Meandquot; (124)
andquot;He's Always Angryandquot; (135)
andquot;We Fight All the Time (142)
andquot;He Hit Meandquot; (148)
andquot;He's Jealous of My Successandquot; (158)
Secret #4: Defuse Power Struggles (165)
andquot;He Won't Do His Shareandquot; (169)
andquot;My Husband Wants a Perfect Housewifeandquot; (176)
andquot;He's a Child, Not a Husbandandquot; (182)
andquot;My Husband is a Perfectionistandquot; (190)
andquot;He Needs Me Too Muchandquot; (196)
andquot;He's Never Homeandquot; (203)
andquot;My In-Laws Are Driving Me Crazyandquot; (209)
Secret #5: Be Money Smart (217)
andquot;We Always Fight About Moneyandquot; (221)
andquot;My Husband is So Cheapandquot; (228)
andquot;My Husband is Have a Midlife Crisisandquot; (234)
andquot;My Compulsive Shopping is Ruining Our Marriageandquot; (241)
andquot;My Job Makes Me Happier Than He Doesandquot; (247)
andquot;He Spends Too Muchandquot; (253)
andquot;My Husband Is a Compulsive Gamblerandquot; (259)
Secret #6: Make Love (267)
andquot;He's Never in the Moodandquot; (271)
andquot;He Had a One-Night Standandquot; (279)
andquot;We Haven't Had Sex in Yearsandquot; (285)
andquot;We Can't Have a Babyandquot; (291)
andquot;My Husband is Impotentandquot; (299)
andquot;He No Longer Thinks I'm Sexyandquot; (307)
andquot;My Husband Keeps Calling Those Sex Hotlinesandquot; (313)
Secret #7: Team Up (321)
andquot;He's a Super Dad but an Awful Husbandandquot; (325)
andquot;My Stepdaughters Are Destroying Our Marriageandquot; (332)
andquot;He's Spoiling Our Sonandquot; (339)
andquot;Our Daughter is on Drugsandquot; (346)
andquot;I Wish I Had an Empty Nestandquot; (353)
andquot;We Had to Give Up Our Babyandquot; (360)
andquot;I Love My Kids More Than I Love My Husbandandquot; (366)
Workbook: Checklists and Strategies (373)
A Quiz for Wives (376)
A Quiz for Husbands (377)
Trust (378)
Communication (385)
Anger (392)
Power and Control (399)
Sex (406)
Money (414)
Team Up (422)