The Healthy Marriage Handbook answers more than 200 confidential, personal questions on every aspect of the marriage relationship. It's almost like having a wise, trusted friend come alongside—-ready at a moment's notice to help couples clear the inevitable hurdles they encounter on the road to marital happiness. The advice is time-tested, offered with compassion and understanding, and—most importantly—based on solid biblical counsel. The book deals with questions in seven broad areas: communication, conflict, sex, intimacy, spiritual oneness, parenting, and money management. Contributors include David and Claudia Arp, Ron Blue, Jerry Bridges, Jim and Sally Conway, Delores Curran, Diana and David Garland, R. Kent Hughes, Bill Hybels, Melissa and Louis McBurney, Les Parrott, Clifford and Joyce Penner, Lewis Smedes, Charles Swindoll, John Trent, Ed Wheat, H. Norman Wright, and Philip Yancey.

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.

What separates happy marriages from miserable ones? Surprisingly, it’s not healthy communication. It’s not conflict resolution skills. It’s actually the size of the marriage’s joy gap . Joy Gap/joi gap/ (n.)-1. The length of time between moments of shared joy When the joy gap gets bigger, problems are more likely to overwhelm you, resentment creeps in, and you start to feel distant and alone in your marriage. When the joy gap is smaller, you regularly feel connected and happy, problems feel manageable, and your marriage becomes a reliable source of joy. But how do you ensure that you’re experiencing joy regularly? Marcus Warner and Chris Coursey have studied relationships (and neuroscience) and discovered four habits that keep joy regular and problems small. Some couples do them naturally, but anyone can learn. That’s why each chapter includes 15-minute exercises that boost joy and re-train your brain to make joy your default setting. You’ll learn new skills including how to: return to joy more quickly after disconnection create stronger bonds and elongate times of happiness boost your enjoyment of physical and emotional intimacy Find out what your marriage looks like after a little work and a whole lot of joy.

Published in 1987, Handbook of Measurements For Marriage And Family Therapy is a valuable contribution to the field of Family Therapy. The purpose of this handbook is to provide a single convenient source to which practitioners, researchers, and trainees can turn in order to learn how to use marriage and family instruments and to find descriptions of instruments suited to their needs.

Full of practical advice, this bestselling book by Nicky and Sila Lee is easy to read and designed to prepare, build, and even mend marriages. The Marriage Book is essential reading for any married or engaged couple. This resource addresses questions like: How can we be happily married to one person for our entire life? How do we resolve conflict? How can we discover and rediscover sexual intimacy? The Marriage Course is a series of seven sessions, designed to help couples invest in their relationship and build a strong marriage. It serves as a bridge between the church and local community by recognizing the need to go beyond the social, as well as physical, walls of the church to help couples with their relationships. Marriage Course is easy to run; the talks are available on DVD (sold separately) and each guest and leader receives a manual. If you enjoy hosting people and have a passion for strengthening family life, you could run a course!

In an increasingly global and connected world, marriages between spouses of different countries and cultures are on the rise. Marla Alupoaicei, herself wed to a Romanian, helps couples sort through such issues as food, finances, family, and such “hidden” problems as different understandings of what it means to be “on time.” Marla combines real-life stories with expert perspectives and biblical insight for a helpful guide both for those just starting out on the intercultural adventure – and those in the midst of it. You'll get practical and biblical advice for handling the most common intercultural conflicts, including: Planning your wedding Communication Understanding each other's values Different views of time Agreeing on food Managing finances Intimacy Raising children Handling illness and grief

The majority of people, in cultures worldwide, seek fulfilment and happiness in marriage and couples relationships. Many mental health professionals now find they are increasingly consulted when such relationships encounter difficulties that threaten the wellbeing of the couples involved. The costs of such difficulties can be high, to society, to children and to other family members, in both emotional and economic terms. Psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, counsellors and social workers will find in this uniquely comprehensive handbook a critical review of knowledge in this wide field, as well as a guide to best practice in its many areas of intervention. The scope of the handbook includes an overview of healthy, normal marriage processes, the major influences on marital quality and stability, the interaction between individual adjustment, environmental events, and relationship satisfaction, and interventions designed to assist couples to enhance their relationship. The emphasis in the chapters which review research is on explicating the implications of current state-of-the-art knowledge for assessment and intervention with couples. Over half the book comprises detailed guidelines on how to conduct interventions for relationship problems. This includes work on different approaches to couples therapy, adapting couples therapy to the needs of couples in which one partner has significant individual psychopathology, working with just one partner, responding to crises initiated by extramarital affairs, mediating divorce, and working with families in which there are combined marital and parenting difficulties.

“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.

Powerful techniques for strengthening your marriage! The stresses and strains of life can unravel the tight bond you once had with your spouse, leaving you feeling lonely, frustrated, and unfulfilled. 75 Habits for a Happy Marriage shows you how to restore that intimate and joyful union with simple, positive actions that bring you closer together throughout the day. Designed by authors Ashley and Daniel Bush, each activity takes only a matter of minutes and gives you a moment to set aside the demands of your career, finances, and chores in order to focus on what matters most--your love. When practiced consistently, these powerful behaviors will become lifelong customs and an important part of your daily routine, ensuring that your relationship continues to grow in the right direction in the years to come. From embracing each other for at least twenty seconds after work to touching your partner during dinner, these valuable habits will instantly boost warm, passionate feelings and help you maintain that loving connection even when managing a crowded schedule. With the guidance and practices detailed in 75 Habits for a Happy Marriage, you will enrich the bond you share with your partner and build a happy, supportive, and long-lasting marriage.