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A review of Getting the Love You Want: A Guide For Couples

by Harville Hendrix Ph.D

A stepping stone to making positive changes in your relationship

Reviewed by: Helen Harvey
About Helen Harvey

Getting the Love You Want: A Guide For Couples With over one million copies sold, and a The New York Times bestseller, this guide to achieving a more loving and satisfying relationship is a great starting point for anyone feeling overwhelmed at the prospect of how exactly to improve their relationship with their partner.

My skepticism in believing that any book could hold useful and meaningful practical advice, dissipated somewhat when I became aware that the author himself was not merely spouting psycho-babble, but was writing from the standpoint of someone having experienced a failed marriage himself.

Divided into three sections, the book covers "The Unconscious Marriage," which details a marriage in which the remaining desires and behavior of childhood interfere with the current relationship; "The Conscious Marriage," which shows a marriage that fulfils those childhood needs in a positive manner; and a 10-week "course in relationship therapy, " which gives detailed exercises for you and your partner to follow in order to learn how to "replace confrontation and criticism ... with a healing process of mutual growth and support."

While I found the text a little too technical at times, the combination of information, case studies, and practical exercises proved invaluable as a stepping stone in my own personal journey to achieving a fruitful and nurturing relationship.

The Couples Companion: Meditations and Exercises for Getting the Love You Want a companion book by the author and his wife provides useful daily exercises that increase in complexity as your relationship progresses and time moves on.

It's true that no book can hold all the answers when it comes to the very personal and unique problems that individual couples face in their relationships, but this book does provide information and advice that we can all universally recognize as applicable to us.

Click here to buy this book, or read more about it at Amazon.com: Getting the Love You Want: A Guide For Couples

Copyright © by Helen Harvey, 2002

Reviewed by Helen Harvey:
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