Marriage Development

While observing exotic animal trainers for her acclaimed book Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, journalist Amy Sutherland had an epiphany: What if she used these training techniques with the human animals in her own life?

Many of the clients who end up in our respective therapist offices thought they were doing relationships right—avoiding the white picket fence, focusing on careers and experiences over babies and legally-binding documents, choosing someone after they “found themselves” first. However, like clockwork, around their early to mid-thirties, these clients show up at our door. Why? For the first time, they realize that they dislike their relationship and are frustrated by their partner but know that another break-up won’t fix things.

Marriage is great, but it's not forever. It's until death do us part. Then come eternal rewards or regrets depending on how we spent our lives. In his latest book, Francis Chan joins together with his wife Lisa to address the question many couples wonder at the altar: "How do I have a healthy marriage?" Setting aside typical topics on marriage, Francis and Lisa dive into Scripture to understand what it means to have a relationship that satisfies the deepest parts of our souls.

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.

Inside this brilliant 2-in-1 collection, you’ll discover a powerful plan for rebuilding trust, forming a deeper connection with your partner, resolving conflict, and much more. Drawing on tried-and-tested methods, as well as heartfelt advice for how to reconnect with your spouse after betrayal and begin the journey to healing, you’ll also learn how you can escape codependency and avoid making the same mistakes again.

Licensed counselor and relationship expert, Debra Fileta, walks you through eight significant choices involved in taking marriage from hard to great. Throughout each chapter, Debra shares astonishing survey results from thousands of singles and married couples, revealing intimate details about things like love, sex, conflict, communication, and attraction. From her experience as a professional counselor and wife, Debra believes that a beautiful exchange occurs when spouses learn what it means to choose we before me.

Is resentment and lack of trust destroying your marriage? Does it seem you've tried everything to fix your relationship and you're starting to give up hope? If so, don't give up yet. In book three of The Marriage Guide Series, relationship experts Beth Banning and Neill Gibson will help you learn a completely new approach to overcome resentment in your marriage and to rebuild the essential trust that will help you experience the many years of happiness you always hoped for.

At the end of her best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert fell in love with Felipe, a Brazilian-born man of Australian citizenship who'd been living in Indonesia when they met. Resettling in America, the couple swore eternal fidelity to each other, but also swore to never, ever, under any circumstances get legally married. But providence intervened one day in the form of the United States government....

Following a unique format perfect for today's world, the renowned author of The Dance of Anger gives us just over 100 rules that cover all the hot spots in long-term relationships. Marriage Rules offers new solutions to age-old problems ("He won't talk"/"She doesn't want sex") as well as modern ones (your partner's relationship to technology.)

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.

In this supportive and straightforward guide, Lundy Bancroft, the author of Why Does He Do That?, and communication specialist JAC Patrissi offer a way for women to practically take stock of their relationships and move forward, with or without their partners.

Lolita and Michael fall into a sexless marriage - a situation that will be familiar to almost 10 percent of married couples in the western world, and one that gives them every cause for despair. This guide explores the reasons for a sexless marriage, and suggests ways in which to remedy it and fight against its corrosive effect on the love between a married couple.

Good people in good marriages are having affairs. The workplace and the Internet have become fertile breeding grounds for “friendships” that can slowly and insidiously turn into love affairs. Yet you can protect your relationship from emotional or sexual betrayal by recognizing the red flags that mark the stages of slipping into an improper, dangerous intimacy that can threaten your marriage.

In the revised edition of his hit book The Sacred Search, author Gary Thomas helps single people of all ages make wise marital choices, in large part by rethinking what basis those choices should be made on. Listeners are encouraged to think beyond finding their “soul mate", an idea that has its roots in the philosophy of Plato, and instead adopt a more biblical search for a “sole mate” - someone who will walk with them on their spiritual journey.

Open Monogamy is Dr. Nelson's guidebook for couples who wish to explore new directions in their relationships - to bring in excitement, variety, and fresh experiences without sacrificing trust, security, and respect. In this practical, skill-based book, she helps you find your place on the "monogamy continuum"; have honest conversations about attraction and desire; remove shame and suspicion from an open relationship; and create agreements - traditional or otherwise - that are fulfilling, exhilarating, and built for enduring love.

The Anxious-Avoidant Trap will show you and your partner how to gain a better understanding of each other, so you can improve communication, avoid emotional reactions, and bring joy back into your relationship. With this compassionate guide, you will: discover how attachment styles are formed in childhood; learn about the three "core wounds" of attachment trauma; recognize signs of anxious or avoidant attachment in adulthood; and develop skills to respond to your partner while reducing emotional reactions.

Discover the marriage you've always hoped for. How to Speak Life to Your Husband by bestselling author Ann Wilson—plus helpful reflections from her husband, Dave—provides the encouragement, hope, and practical tools you need to speak lovingly, truthfully, and with grace to motivate change when you feel stuck.

Until now, we've been taught that forgiveness is good for us and that good people forgive. Dr. Janis Abrahms Spring proposes a radical, life-affirming alternative that lets us overcome the corrosive effects of hate and get on with our lives—without forgiving. She also offers a powerful and unconventional model for earning genuine forgiveness—one that asks as much of the offender as it does of the hurt party.

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.

For married couples and those engaged to be married, Sheet Music is a practical guide to sex according to God's plan. In his characteristic style, Kevin Leman addresses a wide spectrum of people, from those with no sexual experiences to those with past sexual problems or even abuse. Using frank descriptions, this audiobook has a warm and friendly tone that will help couples overcome awkwardness in discussing an issue important to all married couples.