Synopses & Reviews
All you need is love? Wrong. The authors of Fighting for Your Marriage contAnd that conflict in intimate relationships is as normal and essential as love. It's how you fight and resolve conflicts determines the difference between a sustained healthy and satisfying marriage or Andless pain, frustration, and often divorce. At a time when families are falling apart at alarming rates and with enormous social cost, we now have a research-based program to prevent relationship breakdown.The authors combine their twenty-five years of university-based research and counseling experiences with thousands of couplesfrom newly engaged to veteranto present the powerful, proven strategies of the highly acclaimed PREPTM (Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program) approach for helping couples beat the odds and master the skills that can prevent marital distress and divorce. They reveal, for example, research that highlights the major difference between men and women in relationships--it's the way they fightand how shared commitment is essential for fair fighting between partners.The new video set lets you watch couples discover how to talk, listen, and solve problems together.The new audiotape set provides the key to the communication skills of PREPTM.
Review
"To learn to fight right, couples can read books like Dr. Markman's Fighting for Your Marriage, which teach such skills as listening without criticizing or interrupting, setting ground rules for discussion, and scheduling meetings to talk about issues calmly." —Woman's Day
"For martial therapists like me who give homework assignments to couples, Fighting for Your Marriage is a gift. And for those couples who want to work on their marriage without a therapist, it is a book I highly recommAnd." —Anna Beth Benningfield, president, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
"Fighting for Your Marriage offers the clarity couples need to understand how to change, plus wonderfully constructive and effective techniques for putting it into action." —Andrea Van Steenhouse, psychologist and talk show host, Denver
"Here is a manual, a users guide for one of life's great adventures. Fighting for Your Marriage marks a turning point in relationship self-help books. It is essential reading for couples who care." —from the foreword by Dean S. Edell, M.D., medical journalist
Synopsis
Conflict in intimate relationships is as normal and essential as love. How you fight and resolve conflicts determines the difference between a sustained healthy and satisfying marriage or endless pain, frustration, and often divorce. At a time when families are falling apart at alarming rates and with enormous social cost, this book provides a research-based program to prevent relationship breakdown. The new audiotape set provides the key to the communication skills of PREPTM.
Synopsis
With a fresh and unique perspective, the authors of this powerful guide combine 25 years of university-based research with couples-counseling experience. They outline their highly acclaimed PREP-TM (Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program) approach for helping couples beat the odds and master the skills that can prevent marital distress and divorce. They reveal, for example, research that highlights the major difference between men and women in relationships--the way they fight--and how shared commitment is essential for fair fighting between partners.At the And of each chapter, the authors provide engaging exercises for practicing sensible new tactics for dealing with minor irritations or tough and sensitive issues. Step by step, they describe how to establish ground rules that provide the safety and structure needed to handle issues well.
About the Author
HOWARD J. MARKMAN, Ph.D., noted marital expert, is co-director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies at the University of Denver and specializes in research on the prediction and prevention of marital breakdown. SCOTT STANLEY, Ph.D., is co-director of the center and adjunct associate professor of marital and family therapy at Fuller Theological Seminary, and he specializes in research on marital commitment. SUSAN L. BLUMBERG, Ph.D., a psychologist who works with families and couples, has focused on training and research in the PREPTM approach.
Table of Contents
Part One: Handling Conflict
1. Four Key Patterns That Can Harm a Relationship
2. The Differences Between Men and Women in Conflict
3. Communicating Clearly and Safely: The Speaker/Listener Technique
4. Problem Solving
5. Ground Rules for Handling Conflict
Part Two: Dealing with Core Issues
6. The Difference Between Issues and Events
7. Unfulfilled Expectations and What to Do About Them
8. Understanding Commitment
9. The Power of Commitment
10. Forgiveness and the Restoration of Intimacy
Part Three: Enhancement
11. Preserving and Protecting FriAndship
12. Increasing Fun Together
13. Enhancing Your Sex Life
14. The Importance of Core Belief Systems
15. Positive Steps for Keeping Your Relationship Strong