Relationship Rx

Jessica L. Griffin, PsyD, is professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, where she has been a faculty member since 2006. Griffin has been an expert and consultant on several television docuseries about relationships, marriage and divorce on A&E’s Lifetime Television network including: Seven Year Switch, Married at First Sight, Honeymoon Island, and Happily Ever After. She has a private consulting and coaching business and is the CEO of LoveBuilder, which provides educational online courses to couples, singles, and parents. Dr. Jessica resides in Massachusetts. Pepper Schwartz, PhD, is a highly acclaimed relationship and sexuality professional. She is a professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she has created the Pepper Schwartz fellowship on intimate relationships and sexuality. She is also on the advisory board of the University of Minnesota Medical School’s Program in Human Sexuality where they have created an endowed professorship in her name: the Pepper Schwartz Professorship on Sexuality and Life Cycle Aging. She is the only original expert on Married at First Sight and has remained with the franchise since Season One. She resides outside of Seattle.

When you consider all the issues that affect relationships (trust, money problems, household responsibilities, parenting, sexual and emotional intimacy, change, boredom, family), it’s a wonder that anyone stays married. We all have relationship problems, say psychologist Griffin and sociologist Schwartz. What makes the difference is the willingness of the partners to work on communication skills, childhood baggage, and attachment styles to preserve their union. Identifying 11 basic relationship concerns (one per chapter), the authors begin with ground rules and then offer case studies from three couples: one needing minor tweaks (a relationship vitamin), one struggling (relationship medicine), and one nearly fatal (relationship CPR), to suggest possible solutions to their conflicts. Detailed exercises similar to those used in counseling sessions, including role playing, journaling, and structured discussions, are described, and the two doctors demonstrate how these strategies improve the couples’ outcomes. The goal here is to head off problems before they reach the CPR stage, when counseling will be necessary. Readers experiencing these problems will be reassured and guided by Griffin's and Schwartz's practical suggestions.

• AcknowledgementsIntroductionFear of ChangeTrustEmotional IntimacySex and AttractionUnfulfilled Needs and Unmet ExpectationsBoredomDisrespect and ContemptHousehold ResponsibilitiesMoney and FinancesFriends and FamilyChildren and ParentingConclusionsBibliography