Marriage Meetings for Lasting Love: 45 Minutes a Week to the Relationship You've Always Wanted

Most couples {u2014} because they watch so many of their peers divorce and are themselves the products of failed marriages {u2014} don't have many successful long-term-relationship role models. Parenting and communication issues are perennial, while some challenges, like increasingly 24-7 work lives and economic hardships, mark the current decade. Despite all this, psychotherapist and clinical social worker Marcia Naomi Berger asserts that most couples can make love last {u2014} they just need to learn how. Berger answers this need with a deceptively simple prescription: have an interruption-free thirty-minute (or even shorter) meeting each week and follow an agenda that includes the kind of appreciation and planning for fun that foster intimacy and pave the way for collaborative conflict resolution. Berger has refined these techniques while working with hundreds of couples {u2014} with results that are both practical and profound "Because they are the product of failed marriages and watch so many of their peers divorce, most couples don't have many successful long-term relationship role models. Parenting and communication issues are perennial while some challenges - like increasingly 24/7 work lives and economic hardships - mark the current decade. Despite all this, psychotherapist and clinical social worker Marcia Naomi Berger asserts that most couples can make love last, they just need to learn how. Berger answers that need with a deceptively simple prescription: have an interruption-free 45-minute (or shorter) meeting each week and follow an agenda that includes the kind of appreciation and planning for fun that fosters intimacy and paves the way for collaborative conflict resolution. Berger has refined these techniques while working with hundreds of couples - with results that are both practical and profound"-- ""Outlines a simple format for spouses, partners, or members of a couple to use to meet weekly, facilitating good communication about schedules, finances, and parenting, as well as love, trust, and shared goals. The meeting elements are appreciation, responsibilities, planning for good times together, and working through challenges. Author is a psychotherapist with more than 25 years' experience"--Provided by publisher"-- Couples can make love last, says psychotherapist and clinical social worker Marcia Naomi Berger. They just need to learn how. Her prescription is deceptively have an interruption-free thirty-minute (or even shorter) meeting each week and follow an agenda that includes the kind of appreciation and planning for fun that foster intimacy and pave the way for collaborative conflict resolution. With this book, youll learn how to effectively communicate and connect with your spouse each week, and for a lifetime, with step-by-step guidelines that walk you through the four parts of a marriage expressing appreciation, coordinating chores, planning for good times, and resolving problems. Inspiring real-life stories demonstrate how transformative these brief meetings can be. The communication tips and techniques Berger has gleaned from helping hundreds of couples will guide you toward a deeper, more lasting love. Part 1. Preparing for your marriage meetings. Marriage meeting basics: Overview and techniques ; Debunking marriage myths Part 2. Conducting the four parts of a marriage meeting. Expressing appreciation ; Coordinating chores ; Planning for good times ; Addressing problems and challenges Part 3. Communication skills for effective meetings. I-Statements ; Self-talk ; More communication techniques for marriage meeting Part 4. Transforming relationships with marriage meetings. Opposites attract, and then what? Ken and Lauren ; Resolving an in-law issue: Ned and Amy ; Handling a money conflict: Sally and Michael ; Couple progresses from verbal abuse to healthier relating: Wendy and Zack ; Marriage meeting techniques support couple therapy: Oliver and Robin Conclusion Appendix A. The marriage meeting agenda: A quick reference guide Appendix B: The feelings inventories and needs inventory. Based on the author's successful workshops and years of counseling married couples, this book gives easy-to-follow guidelines for how to set aside time each week to "meet" as a couple. Each meeting includes 4 parts: appreciation; chores; plans for good times; and problems and challenges. The meetings are designed to allow a forum where issues can be discussed and resolved but also the couple can celebrate what they love about each other and plan for future "dates" and make decisions about their families and lives together ""Outlines a simple format for spouses, partners, or members of a couple to use to meet weekly, facilitating good communication about schedules, finances, and parenting, as well as love, trust, and shared goals. The meeting elements are appreciation, responsibilities, planning for good times together, and working through challenges. Author is a psychotherapist with more than 25 years' experience"--Provided by publisher"-- Provided by publisher