1. society
2. social institution
3. marriage

Marital Compatibility Test: 100's of Questions for Couples to Answer
Together
Susan Adams
From the Publisher
Little things can make or break a relationship. Wet towels on the bathroom floor, bread crumbs in
the sheets from a late-night sandwich, a thermostat set on 75 when you prefer 68. Such incidents
may seem trivial to couples in the throes of passion, but newlyweds often find that passion cools
with the reality of living together. This book encourages couples to communicate with each other
early on to head off disagreements after the knot is tied. From wet towels to managing the check
book, hundreds of questions on such topics are inluded, such as sex, in-laws, having children, pets,
cooking, food preferences, exercise and fitness, housecleaning, traveling, household economics,
interior decorating, religion, and politics.
Author Biography: Susan Adams is the author of The Family Compatibility Test. She has taught
communication skills to groups, organizations, and corporations across the country. She lives in the
Midwest.
Love and Betrayal: Broken Trust in Intimate RelationshipsJohn Amodeo,
Foreword by Charles L. Whitfield
From the Publisher
"A book of profound insight and wisdom, written not just for those who have been betrayed, but for
anyone who wants to build deeper, more trusting relationships."
SUSAN M. CAMPBELL, Ph.D.
Author of THE COUPLES JOURNEY
LOVE & BETRAYAL explores the many forms betrayal can take, from keeping secrets and negative
gossip to breaking promises and sexual infidelity. In the process, you can discover how to heal the
wounds of past betrayals, what steps to take to forgive both yourself and your betrayer, and how to
cultivate a climate of love and trust in your current relationships.
Journey from Abandonment to Healing: Turn the End of a Relationship into the
Beginning of a New Life
Susan Anderson
From the Publisher
Like Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's groundbreaking On Death and Dying, Susan Anderson's book
clearly defines the five phases of a different kind of grieving--grieving over a lost relationship. An
experienced professional who has specialized in helping people with loss, heartbreak, and
abandonment for more than two decades, Susan Anderson gives this subject the serious attention
it deserves. The Journey From Abandonment to Healing is designed to help all victims of emotional
breakups--whether they are suffering from a recent loss, or a lingering wound from the past;
whether they are caught up in patterns that sabotage their own relationships, or they're in a
relationship where they no longer feel loved. From the first stunning blow to starting over, it
provides a complete program for abandonment recovery.
"If there can be a pill to cure the heartbreak of rejection, this book may be it."-- Rabbi Harold
Kushner, bestselling author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People
In the tradition of Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's On Death and Dying--but dealing with the grief over
the loss of a relationship
Helps readers work through the five universal phases of abandonment: shattering, withdrawal,
internalizing, rage, lifting
Includes hands-on exercises for managing pain and rediscovering the capacity for love
Art and Practice of Loving
Frank Andrews
From the Publisher
One goal transcends all others, one purpose heightens all others, one emotion brings joy to all
others; to love fully and without conditions. The most wise men and women of all religious and
philosophical traditions have taught the art and practice of loving. Now for the first time, their
knowledge has been distilled and collected in this one volume - with 144 practices for cultivating a
loving heart.
This is a unique and practical guidebook for loving - deeply and continually - regardless of what
happens to you as you go through life. With the inspiring quotations, valuable exercises, and
insightful text of this volume, you can gain the skill and the will to turn living into loving.
The Truth about Relationships: A Simple and Powerfully Effective Way for
Everyone to Find Real Love and Loving Relationships
Greg S. Baer, Gregory S. Baer
From the Publisher
A simple and powerfully effective way for everyone to find real love and loving relationships.
Greg Baer, M.D. was a higly successful surgeon in Georgia. He lectured to other surgeons
across the country, taught in a medical school, and acquired considerable wealth. Despite
all that, he nearly died from drug addiction and depression. What he learned in the years
following his recovery has been written in four books. He is the father of 8 children, and
devoted husband.
Codependent No More
Melody Beattie
From the Publisher
The two core books of the personal recovery movement, together in one volume. How to stop
controlling others and start caring for yourself. More than 4 million copies sold.
Stop Being Mean to Yourself: A Story about Finding the True Meaning of SelfLove
Melody Beattie, Melody Beattle
From the Publisher
Stop Being Mean to Yourself takes us to Northern Africa on a modern-day odyssey: one as
full of suspense and excitement as it is of hope and encouragement. In each place, and in
each chapter, Beattie is our compassion are guide, discovering and sharing the universal
lessons that the people and places revealed to her. In teeming Casablanca, in war-torn
Algeria, in the deep caverns of Egypt's great pyramids, Beattie uncovers simple yet vital
lessons for living in today's world: lessons about letting go of fear and trusting our own
instincts, about setting boundaries and working with our own special power. A blend of
travel adventure and guide to spiritual discovery, full of new ideas for overcoming the
pitfalls of guilt and self-doubt, her story beautifully illustrates how you really can love your
neighbor and yourself.
Intimacy Dance: Keeping Our Gay and Lesbian Partnerships Permanent
Betty Berzon
From the Publisher
In 1988, Betty Berzon's Permanent Partner was widely hailed as the first significant book aimed at
helping lesbian and gay couples build fulfilling relationships. Now, drawing on additional insights
gained in the intervening years, she provides specific advice for those in long-term relationships
who are coping with the inevitable surprises and complications that arise in a relationship that
passes the crucial three-year mark. Dr. Berzon discusses couples' fears of growing intimacy or of
the loss of identity, and their concerns about waning sexual desire or "predator" others. Since gay
and lesbian partners have few models to guide them, couples too often opt for ending the
relationship rather than learning to work through their problems. Dr. Berzon's goal, of course, is to
help people work it out - not bail out - and to that end she offers effective strategies for reviving a
relationship that has gone stale; coping with change and transition in one partner that the other
sees as betrayal; understanding the true motives behind a fight that is repeated over and over;
opening lines of communication blocked by some unresolved issue; managing external pressures,
such as family, career, or children, and internal pressures, such as anxiety, depression, or anger;
and learning about couples counseling and how it can help provide stability, continuity, and
renewal. While addressing these issues, Dr. Berzon weaves in the story of her own long-term
relationship. She deals too with the question of monogamy, and though she encourages gays and
lesbians to intensify the pleasures and comforts of permanent relationships, she provides ideas for
how best to deal with an open relationship when that is what a couple decides to have.
How to Forgive when You Don't Know How
Jacqui Bishop, Mary Grunte
No critiques available
How to Love Yourself when You Don't Know how: Healing All Your Inner
Children
Jacqui Bishop, Mary Grate, With Mary Grunte
From the Critics
Library Journal
Coauthors Bishop and Grunte have taken the psychological concept of the inner child and
multiplied it into the concept of inner children. They assert that troubled adults must deal with a host
of wounded children within themselves to resolve old issues. Case studies and detailed instructions
for finding and healing these inner families are included. Unfortunately, most readers will balk at the
premise of this book. For a more believable and compelling treatment of the idea of the inner child,
libraries should purchase John Bradshaw's Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner
Child (Bantam, 1990). This book is not recommended.-- January Adams, Somerville P.L., N.J.
Born for Love: Reflections on Loving
Leo Buscaglia, Daniel Kimber (Editor)
From the Publisher
The man who first brought love to the classroom offers a postgraduate course for people in every
kind of relationship and for those who yearn for love. In powerful short takes, Leo Buscaglia turns
the light of his wisdom on every facet of the priceless jewel of love and discusses: Love that is more
than a comfort zone; Creating an "Us" without destroying the "Me;" The value of differences, and so
much more. These challenging lessons in loving will enrich your life for as long as you live.
Living, Loving & Learning
Leo Buscaglia, Steven Short (Editor)
From the Publisher
Now is the time...
The world's foremost producer of personal development and motivational audio programs now
offers an inside look at how you can learn to enjoy a fuller, richer life today.
To those who have heard him, it comes as no surprise that Leo Buscaglia is America's most
beloved teacher of living and loving. Here, with his own uniquely enchanting mixture of love, charm,
and wisdom, the bestselling author of Loving Each Other, The Art of Being Fully Human, and many
more popular programs shares his blueprint for successful living.
Here is all of the passion, charm, and humor that is Leo Buscaglia, as he takes you on a journey
through nothing less than life itself.
He will convince you that the road to a fuller, happier life is open to you, and reveals how every day
can be enriched, enhanced,and most of all, enjoyed. With Leo as your guide, you will learn how to
succeed at the greatest endeavor of all: LIFE
Loving Each Other: The Challenge of Human Relationships
Leo Buscaglia
From the Publisher
There Is Nothing Greater Than Loving Another.
The world's foremost producer of personal development and motivational audio programs now
offers a compassionate, realistic approach to the special needs we all share.
Here is America's favorite teacher on love and life to answer your questions about the often difficult
art of Loving Each Other. Whether it's a relationship with a friend, lover, wife, husband, son, or
daughter -- Leo Buscaglia reveals the key qualities to making it loving, growing and lasting. Listen
as he talks about:
Intimacy..."A simple caress has the potential of changing a whole life."
Honesty..."Only the truth can help us feel secure. Only the truth can bring us the necessary trust
needed for long lasting relationships."
Happiness..."This is always a by-product of some feeling or action. We seldom come to terms with
the idea that happiness is in us."
Forgiveness..."Love is the single greatest source of forgiveness."
Newly expanded for the '90s!
Love: What Life is All About
Leo Buscaglia
From the Publisher
This book is about love. What it is and what it isn't. It is about you—and about everybody who has
ever reached out to touch the heart of another. Among many other lessons of the heart, Leo
Buscaglia reminds us: Love is open arms. If you close your arms about love you will find that you
are left holding only yourself.
Chicken Soup for the Couple's Soul: 101 Inspirational Stories About Love and
Relationships
Jack L. Canfield, Chrissy Donnelly, Barbara DeAngelis, Mark Donnelly, Chris Donnelly
From the Publisher
From the creators of the bestselling Chicken Soup books comes a new addition to the series that
focuses on the universal need to love in 101 true stories about love, commitment, intimacy, family,
overcoming obstacles and keeping a relationship alive.
The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate
Gary Chapman
From the Publisher
In The Five Love Languages, you will find a couple's guide to help you work as a team. Before you
know it, you'll learn to speak and understand the unique languages of love and effectively express
your love as well as feel truly loved in return.
The Path to Love
Deepak Chopra, Designed by Lynne Amft
From the Publisher
Drawing on the Vedic texts of India and other great wisdom traditions, Dr. Chopra describes the
seven stages of love, beginning and culminating in ecstasy. At each stage we hear stories like
those of Clare, who only falls in love with unattainable men; of Frank and Della, whose eight-yearold marriage has become a battleground of distrust; and of Gail and Jarrett, who near retirement
without understanding how they will fit together into their new lives. As we see these couples
overcome their obstacles, and as we work through a series of specific exercises, we anchor these
lessons in our own experience.
Ask Barbara: The 100 Most-Asked Questions About Love, Sex, and Relationships
Barbara De Angelis, Barbara Deangelis
From the Publisher
Barbara De Angelis, Ph.D., has transformed the lives of millions of people around the world through
her bestselling books, award-winning television program, and sold-out seminars. Now she brings
that essential advice to you, in the only guide to love you'll need for the nineties and
beyond. Offering practical, compassionate guidance on every aspect of love, sex, and intimate
relationships, she explores the questions everyone who has ever been in love has asked...and
reveals the startling answers that can change your life forever.
Whether your relationship is just beginning, in great shape, or going through a rough time, you can
Ask Barbara for the truth about all the intimate, important issues of life and love, including:
How do you convince a workaholic partner to put more time and energy into a marriage?
Why am I attracted to the wrong "bad boy" type of man, and feel no chemistry with the nice guys?
How can I get my partner to express his feelings to me?
What can I do to really please my partner in bed?
Do one-night stands mean anything?
Is there such a thing as a soul mate? And how will I know when I have found mine?
The Mourning Handbook: The Most Comprehensive Resource Offering Practical
and Compassionate Advice on Coping with All Aspects of Death and Dying
Helen Fitzgerald, Designed by Hyun Joo Kim
From the Publisher
Even with the help of friends and family, grieving the death of a loved one can be a complex,
sometimes overwhelming, process. The Mourning Handbook is written as a companion to those
mourners in need of practical and emotional assistance during the trying times before and after the
death of a loved one.
Having counseled thousands of people who have experienced loss, Helen Fitzgerald gives special
attention to the complex emotions that can accompany especially traumatic situations, such as
when a loved one has been murdered, when there have been multiple deaths, when a body has not
been recovered, or when the mourner has been the inadvertent cause of death.
Designed to conform to the special needs of the bereaved, The Mourning Handbook is written and
organized in an accessible style punctuated by real stories of people who have experienced every
kind of loss. With many subchapters and cross references, it can be consulted for a specific
problem or read at length.
Art of Loving
Erich Fromm
From the Publisher
The classic that has helped hundreds of thousands of readers develop their hidden capacities for
love. "Penetrating insight... new vistas of understanding."--Cleveland Plain Dealer
Extraordinary Relationships: A New Way of Thinking About Human Interactions
Roberta M. Gilbert
From the Publisher
Turn any Relationship into an Extraordinary Relationship "A refreshing alternative to common selfhelp approaches." —Michael E. Kerr, M.D., Director, Georgetown Family Center, Washington, D.C.
and coauthor with Dr. Murray Bowen of Family Evaluation After food, water, and shelter,
relationships are the most important factors in determining your quality of life. At work, productivity
and efficiency depend on relationships. At home, relationships with your spouse, children, and
friends are keys to success and happiness. And among nations, relationships start and stop wars.
This invaluable guide shows that only by further developing yourself can you further develop your
relationships. Based on the innovative family systems theory pioneered by the late Dr. Murray
Bowen, this important and penetrating book offers practical and authoritative family therapy advice
that has helped thousands of people throughout the last three decades. It’s a blueprint to better
relationships that tells how the principles of family systems theory can be used in all arenas of your
life, including intimate relationships, friendships, family relationships, single life, workplace
relationships, international relationships, and your relationship with yourself. "A perfect and
unpretentious primer of family relationships … a relief to read." —Dr. Walter Toman, Professor
Emeritus, Erlangen-Nürnberg University, Germany, and author of Family Constellation.
10,000 Ways to Say I Love You
Gregory J. P. Godek, Gregory J. Godek (Introduction)
From the Publisher
A clever and practical resource and an ultimate collection of fun, unique and outrageous ways of
expressing love.
Secret Language of Relationhips: Your Complete Personology Guide to Any
Relationship with Anyone
Gary Goldschneider, Joost Elffers
From the Publisher
Created by Gary Goldschneider and Joost Elffers, this work is the companion volume to their bestselling The Secret Language of Birthdays. The first book presents "personology," the study of
personality types based on the theory that people born on the same day or even during the same
week share unique characteristics. More detailed than traditional sun-sign astrology, with its twelve
signature personality types, personology divides the year into forty-eight "weeks," and, thus,
describes the specific personality traits for those born during these weeks or periods. The Secret
Language of Relationships examines 1,176 combinations - all forty-eight periods combined with
one another. The Relationship Location Finder, printed on the book's front and back endpaper, is
designed to make finding a particular relationship profile easy: Locate the place where the birthdays
of the two people in question intersect to find the page number of the profile. Then learn what the
relationship - whether real or theoretical - is all about. Relationships of all stripes are discussed not just love and marriage - but friendship, career, parent-child, and sibling. Photographs of famous
couples - in love and otherwise, more than 2,500 pairings - beautifully illustrate the text.
Mars and Venus on a Date: A Guide for Navigating the 5 Stages of Dating to
Create a Loving and Lasting Relationship
John Gray
From the Publisher
Mars and Venus on a Date is for all those single people who are looking for love, including the
newly separated or divorced daunted by the singles scene. With the compassion and
understanding that John Gray brings to all his work, he takes us through the five stages of dating:
attraction, uncertainty, exclusivity, intimacy, and engagement. You will find inspired ideas on how to
find your soul mate and thoughts on how to create a loving and mutually fulfilling relationship.
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: A Practical Guide for Improving
Communication and Getting What You Want in Your Relationships
John Gray
From the Publisher
Once upon a time, Martians and Venusians met, fell in love, and had happy relationships together
because they respected and accepted their differences. Then they came to Earth and amnesia set
in: they forgot they were from different planets.
Using this metaphor to illustrate the commonly occurring conflicts between men and women, Dr.
John Gray explains how these differences can come between the sexes and prohibit mutually
fulfilling, loving relationships. Based on years of successful counseling of couples and individuals,
he gives advice on how to counteract these differences in communication styles, emotional needs
and modes of behavior to promote a greater understanding between individual partners.
Now available in its complete, unabridged form, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus is
an invaluable tool for developing deeper and more satisfying relationships.
10 Foolish Dating Mistakes That Men and Women Make and How to Avoid
Them
Lila Gruzen, Rebecca Sperber
No critiques available
Conscious Heart: Seven Soul-Choices That Inspire Creative Partnership
Kathlyn Hendricks, Gay Hendricks
From the Publisher
Kathlyn and Gay Hendricks are two of today's foremost relationship experts. Their bestselling book
Conscious Loving has already become essential reading for tens of thousands of couples. Now, in
The Conscious Heart, they identify the seven commitments that can transform from the inside out.
These seven simple—but powerful—choices enable couples to:
Use conflict to create greater understanding
Overcome the fears and defenses that block intimacy
Resolve struggles for control
Increase generosity and appreciation
Deepen passion, commitment, and aliveness
Release the creativity of each partner
Filled with numerous true-life stories—including how the authors survived and grew from their own
midlife marital crisis—The Conscious Heart is an inspiring and instructive affirmation of the ultimate
power of love.
Getting the Love You Want: A Guide for Couples
Harville Hendrix
From the Publisher
Bestselling author Dr. Harville Hendrix offers warm, intelligent advice for transforming an intimate
relationship into a lasting source of love and companionship.
Dr. Hendrix, a marriage therapist and pastoral counselor, has divided his helpful recommendations
into 3 stages. First, he chronicles the fate of most relationships-attraction, romantic love and the
power struggle — and suggests ways for you and your partner to identify the conflicts associated
with each of them. Then, he explores methods for achieving a "Conscious Marriage," where the
early phases of romance are rekindled and confrontation is slowly replaced by growth and support.
Finally, Dr. Hendrix incorporates these ideas into a unique therapeutic course, offering a series of
proven step-by-step exercises that lead to insight, resolution and revitalization.
If you're not getting the love you want from the person you're with, you need to do something about
it. Dr. Hendrix tells you what that something is.
Keeping The Love You Find
Harville Hendrix
From the Publisher
If you're not getting the love you want from the person you're with, you need to do something about
it. Dr. Hendrix tells you what that something is.
After his groundbreaking book Getting the Love You Want, Hendrix has developed a brilliant,
thought-provoking, and innovative self-help program for single people who yearn for the pleasures
and rewards of a loving, long-lasting union. As seen on Oprah, here is the New York Times
bestseller for singles looking to find and keep the love of their lives.
Learn to Love: A Practical Guide to Fulfilling Relationships
Mary Jaksch
From the Publisher
Learn to Love is a colorful and inviting illustrated handbook that teaches the real skills and methods
that make for healthy romantic unions. This unique guide describes ten detailed relationship
strategies for creating intimacy, honesty, and empathy, while improving communication and
fostering mutual respect. Over 25 dynamic exercises, such as role-changing and intensive listening,
will help partners make lasting changes. Learn to Love offers effective techniques to address
difficulties, while encouraging couples to identify what's best in what they share and make it even
better. Just trying therapist Mary Jaksch's strategies is sure to bring partners closer together. Plus,
readers will find that the lessons gleaned from this book also apply to relationships with family,
friends, and coworkers.
Love Is Letting Go of Fear
Gerald G. Jampolsky, Jack Keeler (Illustrator), Foreword by Hugh Prather
From the Publisher
Experience the miracle of love in your life!
In the #1 bestselling tradition of Marianne Williamson's A Return to Love, internationally renowned
interpreter of A Course in Miracles, Jerry Jampolsky now offers an expanded audio presentation of
his seminal bestseller, Love Is Letting Go Of Fear. Based on material from A Course in Miracles,
these lessons will help you let go of fear and remember that our very essence is love.
By taking these lessons to heart, you can change your way of perceiving the world away from one
that focuses on the past towards a belief system that removes the blocks to the awareness of love's
presence in our lives. Dr. Jampolsky can help you tune in the voice of your inner teacher, allowing
you to:
heal your relationships
experience peace of mind
let go of the fear that prohibits true fulfillment
Change your outlook from a life of getting and fear towards a life of giving and love, and experience
the joy of peace in your life.
Newly expanded for the 90's.
Love Is the Answer: Creating Positive Relationships
Gerald G. Jampolsky, Diane Cirincione, With Diane V. Ciricione
From the Publisher
You can achieve harmony, forgiveness, and well-being, overcome any obstacle, build constructive
relationships, heal illness, assuage the deepest grief. If you can recover the capacity to love, you
can do anything. Because
Love Is The Answer
The principles of inner healing are simple, easy to master, and astonishingly effective. The realworld power of unconditional love is almost unlimited, with vast potential for salvaging relationships,
improving health, creating happiness, and increasing productivity in every area of human endeavor.
A pioneer in the field of attitudinal healing and author of Out of Darkness into Light, One Person
Can Make a Difference, and Teach Only Love, as well as the classic bestseller Love Is Letting Go
of Fear, Dr. Gerald G. Jampolsky has transformed the lives of millions of men and women through
his work. In this companion volume to Love Is Letting Go of Fear, Dr. Jampolski and Diane
Cirincione outline the Seven Stepping Stones of inner health:
Ending conflict and preparing for unconditional love
Turning fear, shame, and guilt into love
Overcoming anger and communicating more effectively without hostility
Transforming control into freedom
Achieving present happiness despite past misery
Forgiving others to heal ourselves
Building holy relationships
You can attain happiness and peace of mind. All it takes is the conscious decision to be happy and
peaceful. This is the book that will show you how.
Teach Only Love: The 12 Principles of Attitudinal Healing
Gerald G. Jampolsky
From the Publisher
In 1975, Jerry Jampolsky cofounded the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Tiburon, California, where
people with life-threatening illnesses practice peace of mind as an instrument of transformation.
Based on the healing power of love and forgiveness, the 12 principles developed at the center, and
explained in this book, embrace the idea that total giving and total acceptance are crucial to the
healing process and that attitudinal healing can lead to harmony, joy, and life without fear.
To Love and Be Loved
Sam Keen
From the Publisher
To Love and Be Loved is a spirited challenge to a culture obsessed with romance and intimacy but
dangerously ignorant of the full range and richness of human love. Love is not something we "fall"
into, claims Keen, but a complex art combining many skills and talents that take a lifetime to learn.
Here he focuses on the sixteen key "elements of love" that combine to form the full spectrum of
human affection. He concludes with a soaring meditation on the claim that "those who love know
God," an exploration of eros and creativity at the center of the universe.
Developing Healthy Stepfamilies: Twenty Families Tell Their Stories
Patricia Kelley
From The Critics
Booknews
Addresses the differences between biologically based families and stepfamilies, focusing on a set
of stepfamilies which are "working" and showing the many ways in which they function in areas
such as discipline, money, relationships with ex-spouses and their families, and the development of
new traditions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Complete Idiot's Guide to a Healthy Relationship
Judith Kuriansky, Judy Kuriansky
From the Publisher
For those who followed her advice in The Complete Idiot's Guide to Dating, think they've found that
special someone, and now hope that the new love of their lives doesn t walk out the door, here's a
book that reveals the secrets to having a lasting and loving relationship. In Dr. Judy's
straightforward, down-to-earth style, readers learn to recognize the symptoms of an unhealthy
relationship and determine whether their mates are even worth keeping. Then, she shows happy
couples how to sustain a fulfilling relationship with tips on keeping their passion alive and the sex
fires burning. Readers learn how to successfully overcome love barriers such as mate burnout and
the complain, complain, complain blues. And when all else fails, Dr. Judy explains when to cut your
losses and call it quits. Fun exercises, quizzes, and charts offer insight about a couple's
compatibility, long-term goals, and attitudes toward each other.
Living a Life That Matters: Resolving the Conflict Between Conscience and Success
Harold S. Kushner
From the Publisher
From the celebrated author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People, a profound and practical
book about doing well by doing good. For decades now, from the pulpit and through his writing,
Harold Kushner has been helping people navigate the rough patches of life: loss, guilt, crises of
faith. Now, in this compelling new work, he addresses an equally important issue: our craving for
significance, the need to know that our lives and our choices mean something.
We sometimes do great things, and sometimes terrible things, to reassure ourselves that we matter
to the world. We sometimes confuse fame, power, and wealth with true achievement. But finally we
need to think of ourselves as good people, and we are troubled when we compromise our integrity
in the pursuit of what we think of as success.
Harold Kushner tells us that the path to a truly successful and significant life is through friendship,
through family, and through acts of generosity and self-sacrifice. He describes how, in affecting the
life of even one person in a positive way, we make a difference in the world, and prove that we do
in fact matter.
Persuasive and sympathetic, anecdotal and commonsensical, Living a Life That Matters inspires
and uplifts.
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
Harold S. Kushner
From the Publisher
As a Young Theology Student, Harold Kushner puzzled over the Book of Job. As a small-town
rabbi he counseled other people through pain and grief. But not until he learned that his three-yearold son, Aaron, would die in his early teens of a rare disease did he confront one of life's most
difficult questions: Where do we find the resources to cope when tragedy strikes?
"I knew that one day I would write this book," says Rabbi Kushner. "I would write it out of my own
need to put into words some of the most important things I have come to believe and know. And I
would write it to help other people who might one day find themselves in a similar predicament. I
am fundamentally a religious man who has been hurt by life, and I wanted to write a book that could
be given to the person who has been hurt by life, and who knows in his heart that if there is justice
in the world, he deserved better... If you are such a person, if you want to believe in God's
goodness and fairness but find it hard because of the things that have happened to you and to
people you care about, and if this book helps you do that, then I will have succeeded in distilling
some blessing out of Aaron's pain and tears."
Since its original publication in 1981, When Bad Things Happen to Good People has brought
solace and hope to millions. In his new preface to this anniversary edition, Rabbi Kushner relates
the heartwarming responses he has received over the last two decades from people who have
found inspiration and comfort within these pages.
Talk to Me: How to Create Positive Loving Communication
Steven C. Martin, Catherine A. Martin, Catherine Martin
From the Publisher
Talk to Me: How to Create Positive, Loving Communication provides proven techniques and skills
that allow anyone to establish a strong, articulate, loving relationship with their life-partner. Readers
will discover how they can get their partner to talk to them, ending the silence. They will learn how
to take positive actions that bring more understanding kindness, honesty, respect and love into their
lives. They will receive practical instruction on avoiding fighting and keeping their love alive, talk
about difficult subjects (even under stress), and most important of all, how to succeed in their
relationships. Talk to Me is recommended for all self-help and marital counseling bookshelves.
The Friendship Factor: How to Get Closer to the People You Care For
Alan Loy McGinnis
From the Publisher
Here's a book that helps you learn how to be a warmer, more lovable person, how to communicate
better, and how to resolve tension in your relationships. These clues for getting close apply to friend
and friend, husband and wife, parent and child.
Life Strategies: Doing What Works, Doing What Matters
Phillip C. McGraw
From the Publisher
Whether it's a bad relationship, a dead-end career, or a harmful habit, Dr. McGraw's 10 Life Laws
will empower you to take responsibility for your own actions and break free from self-destructive
patterns. Drawing upon more than fifteen years of experience, Dr. McGraw explores each of the 10
Life Laws necessary to succeed:
Life Law #1: You either get it, or you don't.
Strategy: Become one of those who gets it.
Life Law #2: You create your own experience.
Strategy: Acknowledge and accept accountability for your life.
Life Law #3: People do what works.
Strategy: Identify the payoffs that drive your behavior and that of others.
Life Law #4: You cannot change what you do not acknowledge.
Strategy: Get real with yourself about your life and everybody in it.
Life Law #5: Life rewards action.
Strategy: Make careful decisions and then pull the trigger.
Life Law #6: There is no reality; only perception.
Strategy: Identify the filters through which you view the world.
Life Law #7: Life is managed; it is not cured.
Strategy: Learn to take charge of your life.
Life Law #8: We teach people how to treat us.
Strategy: Own, rather than complain about, how people treat you.
Life Law #9: There is power in forgiveness.
Strategy: Open your eyes to what anger and resentment are doing to you.
Life Law #10: You have to name it before you can claim it.
Strategy: Get clear about what you want and take your turn.
Relationship Rescue: A Seven-Step Strategy for Reconnecting with Your Partner
Phillip C. McGraw, Phil McGraw
From the Publisher
In his bestselling self-help bible, Life Strategies, high-profile psychologist Phil McGraw helped
thousands of people break free from destructive habits and situations. Now he turns his attention to
troubled relationships, providing a program of expert advice geared to reconnecting partners who
are seriously committed to staying together. Filled with questionnaires, checklists, and other
diagnostic tools, this authoritative guide allows readers to pinpoint specific problems. McGraw then
explodes ten of the most popular relationship myths about romance, problem-solving, and
personality differences, replacing them with clear, action-oriented steps to help get partners back
on the right track. He eschews the rhetoric of standard "couples therapy,'' stressing at every turn
the importance of taking personal responsibility not only for yourself but for the state of your
relationship. Finally he addresses such recurring problems as sex, fighting, and forgiveness and
provides serious, hard-hitting advice on avoiding wrong thinking and dealing with real-life issues—
even renegotiating the fundamental principles of the relationship.
Portable Problem Solver: Having Healthy Relationships
Susanna McMahon
From the Publisher
With warmth, compassion, and wisdom, this extraordinary book teaches you to become a great
problem solver in all your relationships. Seven problem-solving steps let you work on your currently
problems while mastering techniques that will help you effectively handle any future challenge or
crisis. The Portable Problem Solver gives you the knowledge and skills to make healthy,
meaningful, and fulfilling relationships possible. It also teaches you to take care of yourself
emotionally and physically - and to use your innate capabilities to solve the problems of this
process called life.
Me 101: A Workbook for a Better Relationship
Lisa Medway, Lauren Sarafan
No Critique available
Addictive Relationships: Reclaiming Your Boundaries
Joy Erlichman Miller
Annotation
Dedicated to the claiming of your own personal boundries, this book deals with our addictive or
destructive relationships.
Legacy of the Heart: The Spiritual Advantages of a Painful Childhood
Wayne Muller
From the Publisher In this inspiring book, Wayne Muller draws on eighteen years of work with
adult children of troubled families to show how hard-won wisdom born of hurt can become a
powerful source of strength and peace. He teaches us how to recognize and transform the
damaging effects of childhood wounds and rediscover our natural vitality, creativity, and joy.
Love and Survival: 8 Pathways to Intimacy and Health
Dean Ornish
From the Publisher
The Medical Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy
We all know that intimacy improves the quality of our lives. Yet most people don't realize how much
it can increase the quality of our lives — our survival.
In this New York Timesworld-renowned physician Dean Ornish, M.D., writes, "I am not aware of
any other factor in medicine that has a greater impact on our survival than the healing power of love
and intimacy. Not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery."
He reveals that the real epidemic in modern culture is not only physical heart disease but also what
he calls spiritual heart disease: loneliness, isolation, alienation, and depression. He shows how the
very defenses that we think protect us from emotional pain are often the same ones that actually
heighten our pain and threaten our survival. Dr. Ornish outlines eight pathways to intimacy and
healing that have made a profound difference in his life and in the life of millions of others in turning
sadness into happiness, suffering into joy.
Love and Survival: The Scientific Basis for the Healing Power of Intimacy
Dean Ornish
From the Publisher
A BOLD NEW LOOK AT HEALING FROM DEAN ORNISH, M.D.The visionary physician who
showed-for the first time-that heart disease is reversible by changing diet and lifestyle now reveals
one of the most powerful factors in health and illness: the healing power of love, intimacy, and
spiritual transformation.According to Dr. Ornish, 3I am not aware of any other factor in medicine-not
diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery-that has a greater
impact on our quality of life, incidence of illness, and premature death from almost all causes.2 Dr.
Ornish is a pioneer once more as he persuasively argues that love and intimacy are a root cause of
what makes us sick and what makes us well, what causes sadness and what brings happiness,
what makes us suffer and what leads to healing.In Love & Survival, Dr. Ornish provides a review of
the science supporting the powerful role of intimacy in health and illness, reveals in very personal
terms his own struggles with intimacy and meaning, and describes strategies and techniques for
enhancing love, intimacy, and communication.
Author Biography: Dean Ornish, M.D., is president and director of the Preventive Medicine
Research Institute in Sausalito, CA. He is assistant clinical professor of medicine at the School of
Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, and an attending physician at California Pacific
Medical Center.
Relationships Workbook
Les Parrott, Leslie Parrott
From the Publisher
This companion to Relationships does more than fill you in on sound relational principles — it helps
you live them. Many self-tests and applications will help you internalize cutting-edge strategies,
skills, and insights for nurturing healthy relationships.
In their groundbreaking book, Relationships, Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott show how to make bad
relationships better and good relationships great. They provide the tools you need to handle tough
times and to really succeed at forging strong, rewarding relationships with friends, with the opposite
sex, with family, and with God. The Relationships Workbook helps you put what you learn in action.
This companion to Relationships does more than fill you in on sound relational principles — it helps
you live them. Here are page after page of self-tests and applications that will help you - Find out
who you are and what you bring to your relationships - Discover how your family of origin shapes
the way you relate to others - Bridge the gender gap and learn the language of the opposite sex Build friendships that last - Find the love you long for - Deal with sexual issues - Handle failed
friendships and breakups without falling apart - Relate to God without feeling phony — The
Relationships Workbook will help you internalize cutting-edge strategies, skills, and insights for
nurturing healthy relationships. You'll learn principles that can help you solve relationship problems
before they even begin — and build the kinds of healthy, satisfying relationships that are life's
greatest riches.
Relationships
Les Parrott, Leslie Parrott
From the Publisher
Designed for college students, young adults, singles, and dating couples, this book teaches the
basics of healthy relationships, including friendship, dating, sexuality, and relating to God; it is
accompanied by a 48-page workbook.Today more than ever, people long for connection.
Relationships is an honest and timely guide to forming the rich relationships that are life's greatest
treasure. Heading below the surface to the depths of human interactions, relationship experts Les
and Leslie Parrott show how to make bad relationships better and good relationships great. Here
are the tools you need to handle tough times and to really succeed at forging strong, rewarding
relationships with friends, with the opposite sex, with family, and with God. This cutting-edge book
will help you understand * Who you are and what you bring to your relationships * How your family
of origin shapes the way you relate to others * How to bridge the gender gap and learn the
language of the opposite sex * Tips for building friendships that last * Secrets to finding the love you
long for and to handling sexual issues ( How to handle failed friendships and breakups without
falling apart * How to relate to God without feeling phony
A Healing Intimacy: The Power of Loving Connections
Paul P. Pearsall
From the Publisher
You probably "feel better" you're in love, but did you know that being in an intimate, loving
relationship has an actual, measurable, positive effect on your health? A Healing Intimacy presents
startling findings from the new field of psychoneurosexuality — the study of how our sexual
attitudes and behaviors affect our health — that show that being in such a relationship strengthens
your immune system, improving your general well-being and making you more resistant to serious
illness.By the best-selling author of Super Marital Sex and Super Immunity, this is the inspiring
guide to using the power of a loving relationship to heal the mind and body. A Healing Intimacy
teaches how to achieve a relationship in which there is less emphasis on self-fulfillment and more
emphasis on mutual support and respect.
The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and
Spiritual Growth
M. Scott Peck, Morgan Scott Peck
From the Publisher
"Life is difficult."
With this first sentence, Dr. M. Scott Peck revolutionized the way we live our lives, and it is no less
true today than when it was written twenty years ago. In this guide to confronting and resolving our
problems—and suffering through the changes—we learn that we can reach a higher level of
selfknowledge. Written in a voice that is timeless in its message of love and understanding, The
Road Less Traveled can help us learn the very nature of loving relationships: how to recognize true
compatibility; how to distinguish dependency from love; how to become one's own person; how to
be a more sensitive parent.
The Hard Questions: 100 Essential Questions to Ask Before You Say "I Do"
Susan Piver
From the Publisher
Thought-provoking questions that challenge and inspire couples to build a lasting, intimate
relationship.
When Susan Piver's husband, Duncan, proposed, her first impulse was to break up with him. "How
does one enter into marriage knowing that almost half of all couples these days get divorced?" she
thought in a panic. "Suppose he wants to live somewhere I hate? What if I wish we had ten times
more money than he wishes for, or he wants to spend more time with his family than I do?"
One by one, she and Duncan answered these questions and many more, alternately delighted,
appalled, infuriated, and mystified by the other's responses. In exploring each area of uncertainty,
Piver learned something about her husband-to-be, herself, and their relationship. Focusing on key
areas of married life, such as home, money, work, sex, community and friends, family, and
spirituality, her list of questions became the basis for this book.
Unconditional Love: Love Without Limits John Joseph Powell, Algimantas
Kezys (Illustrator), Jean-Claude Lejeune (Illustrator)
From the Publisher
Somewhere in the world there may be someone who "better" for you or for me. This not the point.
The point is that I have choosen to give you my gift of love and you have chosen to love me. That is
the only soil in which love can grown.
Happiness Is an Inside Job
John S. J. Powell
From the Publisher
John Powell describes for us the ten practice that he sees as neccessary if we are to be successful
in our quest for happiness.
Why Am I Afraid to Love?: Overcoming Rejection and Indifference
John Powell
No Critique Available.
Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am?: Insights into Personal Growth
John Powell, Jean-Claude Lejeune (Photographer), C. David Edmonson (Photographer), Designed
by Debbie Allen
No Critique Available.
10 Steps to a Great Relationship: What Every Couple Should Know about Love
Howard J. Rankin
From the Publisher
In his easy, entertaining style, Dr. Rankin describes the behaviors that make a relationship
wonderful for both parties. 10 STEPS TO A GREAT RELATIONSHIP includes innovative
techniques to improve your life, questions designed to help readers identify their strong points, and
exercises to help improve weaker areas.
How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving
David Richo, Kathlyn Hendricks
From The Critics
Publisher's Weekly
Approaching the study of relationships from a psychotherapist's perspective is How to Be an Adult
in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving. Teacher and writer David Richo gives practical
and spiritual exercises for couples and singles who want to have mature and lasting relationships.
Emphasizing paying attention and letting go, Richo gently and compassionately coaches readers
on what he calls the five A's: attention, acceptance, appreciation, affection and allowing. His book,
which proposes "letting go of ego," will help those seeking personal transformation in their
relationships. (June) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
On Becoming a Person: A Therapist's View of Psychotherapy
Carl Rogers
No critiques available
The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship
Don Miguel Ruiz
From the Publisher
In The Mastery of Love, don Miguel illuminates the fear-based beliefs and assumptions that
undermine love and lead to suffering and drama in our relationships. Using insightful stories to
bring his message to life, he shows us how to heal our emotional wounds, recover the freedom and
joy that are our birthright, and restore the spirit of playfulness that is vital to loving relationships.
Using teachings from the three Toltec Masteries (Awareness, Transformation, and Love) as a
foundation, don Miguel brings to light the fallacies and misplaced expectations about love that
permeate most relationships. He gracefully shares his wisdom through delightful and engaging
stories that clarify each point and bring his message to life.
Attitudes of Gratitude in Love: Creating More Joy in Your Relationship
M. J. Ryan, Daphne Rose Kingma
From the Publisher
"We can have happier and more joy-filled relationships if we focus on what's right about them rather
than what's wrong," writes M.J. Ryan in Attitudes of Gratitude in Love, the follow-up to her
bestselling Attitudes of Gratitude. In her characteristically down-to-earth style, Ryan shows you how
to use the experience of gratitude to get back in touch with why you fell in love in the first place and
how to deepen the love between you and your partner, no matter how long you've been together.
Always Kiss Me Good Night: Instructions on Raising the Perfect ParentJ. S. Salt
(Compiler)
From the Publisher
If kids came with an instruction manual, this would be it. This warm and funny book offers truly wise
parenting tips from the experts themselves, kids ages 6-12, who know exactly what they need.
Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psychology to Realize Your
Potential for Lasting Fulfillment
Martin E. Seligman
From the Publisher
Over a decade ago, Martin Seligman charted a new approach to living with "fleXible optimism."
Now, in his most stimulating and persuasive book to date, the bestselling author of Learned
Optimism introduces the revolutionary, scientifically based idea of "Positive Psychology." Positive
Psychology focuses on strengths rather than weaknesses, asserting that happiness is not the result
of good genes or luck. Seligman teaches readers that happiness can be cultivated by identifying
and using many of the strengths and traits that they already possess -- including kindness,
originality, humor, optimism, and generosity. By frequently calling upon their "signature strengths" in
all the crucial realms of life, readers will not only develop natural buffers against misfortune and the
eXperience of negative emotion, they will move their lives up to a new, more positive plane.
Drawing on groundbreaking psychological research, Seligman shows how Positive Psychology is
shifting the profession's paradigm away from its narrow-minded focus on pathology, victimology,
and mental illness to positive emotion, virtue and strength, and positive institutions. Our signature
strengths can be nurtured throughout our lives, with benefits to our health, relationships, and
careers.
Seligman provides the Signature Strengths Survey along with a variety of brief tests that can be
used to measure how much positive emotion readers experience, in order to help determine what
their highest strengths are. The life-changing lesson of Authentic Happiness is that by identifying
the very best in ourselves, we can improve the world around us and achieve new and sustainable
levels of authentic contentment, gratification, and meaning.
The Zen of Listening: Mindful Communication in the Age of Distraction
Rebecca Z. Shafir
From the Publisher
Poor listening is a factor in many tragedies -- high suicide rates, family breakups, school violence,
and substance abuse. Also tragic is the student who suffers from poor concentration, belowaverage school performance, and low self-esteem because good listening is not first practiced at
home. Poor listening results in millions of dollars of lost revenue in business due to inefficient
teamwork, impersonal customer service, and litigation. And how many medical malpractice suits
can be traced to someone's lack of attention?
Why don't we listen better to our spouses, kids, bosses, and clients? Rebecca Shafir says it's
because we live in this high-tech Age of Distraction. The bombarding media and today's "do-it-all"
mentality alienate us from one another by reducing attention span and increasing anxiety. The need
for speed and the desire to succeed can distort even the clearest messages. But it is the internal
distractions -- the mental noise and negative self-talk -- that most inhibit our ability to truly listen.
About Love: Reinventing Romance for Our Times
Robert C. Solomon
From the Publisher
This book offers insightful observations from a broad range of sources—literary, historical, and
personal—to explore the volatile blend of passion, expectation, and confusion that characterizes
this most exhilarating and excruciating of human passions—love.
In the Meantime: Finding Yourself and the Love You Want
Iyanla Vanzant
From the Publisher
You know where you want to be, but you have no clue how to get there. You know exactly what you
want in life, but what you want is nowhere in sight. Perhaps your vision is unclear, your purpose still
undefined. On top of it all, your relationships, particularly your romantic relationships, are failing. If
these scenarios feel familiar way down in the deepest part of your gut, then you, my dear, are
smack dab in the middle of the meantime. The bestselling author of Acts of Faith and The Value in
the Valley -- whose books have empowered countless women -- now reaches out to anyone who
yearns for love, in a book about relationships that can help them reach new levels of awareness,
spiritual growth, and fulfillment.
Living Through the Meantime: Learning to Break the Patterns of the Past and
Begin the Healing Process
Iyanla Vanzant
From the Publisher
Are you in the Meantime?
Are you confused, angry, disappointed, frustrated, anxious, apprehensive, sorry for yourself, or
generally wiped out? If so, my friend, you are in the meantime.
Are you ready to put the pieces of your life together? Are you ready to begin the process of
healing? Are you ready to give and receive love in all of your experiences?
In Living Through the Meantime, bestselling author Iyanla Vanzant will lead you, step-by-step, to a
greater understanding of your own past, your motivations, and your desires. Once you have
completed this program of meditation, self-care, and self-examination, you will be able to move
beyond your meantime experience and into the love that is your true essence.
The RoMANtic's Guide: Hundreds of Creative Tips for a Lifetime of Love
Michael S. Webb
From the Publisher
Determined to make his wife the happiest woman on earth, Michael Webb "romanced" her so well
her friends became jealous and asked the couple to pass on their tips for happiness. And so, in
1996, The RoMantic was born. With a circulation of 15,000, a syndicated column reaching more
than 6 million readers, and a popular website, it's clear that people are hungry for its message that
romance is crucial to a relationship, no matter how long a couple has been together.
Boundaries and Relationships: Knowing, Protecting and Enjoying the Self
Charles L. Whitfield, Foreword by John Amodeo
From the Publisher
Bestselling author Charles L. Whitfield thoroughly explores healthy and unhealthy relationships and
personal boundaries, offers a self-assessment survey and describes 10 essential types of human
interactions in which individuals can improve relationships.
Healing the Child Within: Discovery and Recovery for Adult Children of
Dysfunctional Families
Charles L. Whitfield
From the Publisher
The "Child Within" refers to that part of each of us which is ultimately alive, energetic, creative and
fulfilled; it is our real self-who we truly are.
How to Stay Lovers for Life: Discover a Marriage Counselor's Tricks of the Trade
Sharyn Wolf
From the Publisher
Every relationship has its ups and downs, the moments when someone says, "I'm so in love I can't
imagine being single," and the moments when they wonder, "Who is this alien beside me?" But the
good news is that the excitement and romance a couple knew at the beginning can be restored and
sustained. Based on the same model of guerrilla survival skills that made her book Guerrilla Dating
Tactics such a success, Sharyn Wolf takes the same playful, humorous approach to solving
relationship problems-from the lingering dirty socks in the bedroom to the bigger issues like
children, housework, sex, and communication. In this step-by-step guide to diagnosing and treating
your relationship problems, hundreds of simple strategies are provided to get your relationship back
on track. Some sample Mating Tactics:
•
•
•
After a fight, make it up to your partner by doing a household task she/he hates to do
Chart your positive and negative times together-and see the patterns that develop
Draw a family tree with your partner so you can recognize the impact of your past on your
present
Replete with colorful, real-life stories of couples who made it through the trenches together, How to
Stay Lovers for Life offers hundreds of quick, easy, and fun things couples can do to keep their
love alive and their relationship flourishing.
Compiled Spring 2003 by Beth Shamel, Marshal Taylor, and Cassie Miller
Summaries from www.barnesandnoble.com