“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.” -Ursula K. LeGuin In thirty-five years of counseling couples and families, I have continually been reminded about how little most of us are taught about specific tasks […]
Building a Strong Marriage
One of our most popular books for anyone who wants to read up on the secrets of happy relationships is called The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by psychologist John Gottman and Nan Silver, published in 2000. Gottman revolutionized the study of marriage by using rigorous scientific procedures to observe the habits of married couples […]
Kids from Happy Families Adjust Better to School
A three year longitudinal study confirmed what family therapists have observed clinically for decades–namely that patterns of family interaction have profound effects on children–both for better and for worse. Melissa Sturge-Apple, a researcher from the University of Rochester, studied 234 families with 6 year-old children, and followed the adjustment of the kids in their first […]
Do I Have to Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?
One of our favorite books for couples has been on the shelves of The Family Therapy Institute of Santa Barbara for almost twenty years and is still selling. Co-authored by Drs. Jordan and Margaret Paul, Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You? is now in its second edition and can […]
