Using actual case studies, as well as examples from music, literature, and film, Dr. Pittman identifies four basic patterns of infidelity—the accidental encounter, habitual philandering, marital arrangements, and romance—discussed how to limit the damage that affairs do, and offers practical suggestions on how to make a marriage work.

One of family therapy's wittiest and most sensible writers uses the family crisis as a launching point for discussing the entire range of events that can disrupt marriage and family life. A family crisis is heralded by symptomatic behavior, such as school phobia, adolescent rebellion, or depression, that trips up the family in its developmental path. Pittman show how the therapist can make the most of these crisis, creatively using whatever is at hand to pull the family through the chaos.

Using actual case studies, as well as examples from music, literature, and film, Dr. Pittman identifies four basic patterns of infidelity—the accidental encounter, habitual philandering, marital arrangements, and romance—discussed how to limit the damage that affairs do, and offers practical suggestions on how to make a marriage work.

One of family therapy's wittiest and most sensible writers uses the family crisis as a launching point for discussing the entire range of events that can disrupt marriage and family life. A family crisis is heralded by symptomatic behavior, such as school phobia, adolescent rebellion, or depression, that trips up the family in its developmental path. Pittman show how the therapist can make the most of these crisis, creatively using whatever is at hand to pull the family through the chaos.