Recommended Products

by Ronald J. Frederick

In LIVING LIKE YOU MEAN IT, author Ronald J. Frederick, does a brilliant job of describing why people are so afraid of their emotions and how this fear creates a variety of problems in their lives. While the problems are different, the underlying issue is often the same. At the core of their distress is what Dr. Frederick refers to as feelings phobia. Whether it s the experience of love, joy, anger, sadness, or surprise, our inborn ability to be a fully feeling person has been hijacked by fear–and it s fear that s keeping us from a better life.

The book begins with a questionnaire-style list that help readers take an honest look at themselves and recognize whether and how they are afraid of their feelings. It then moves on to explore the origins of fear of feeling and introduces a four-part program for overcoming the fear: (1) Become aware of and learn to recognize feelings–anger, sadness, joy, love, fear, guilt/shame, surprise, disgust. (2) Master techniques for taming the fear. (3) Let the feeling work its way all the way through to its resolution. (4) Open up and put those feelings into words and communicate them confidently. With wisdom, humor, and compassion, the book uses stories and examples to help readers see that overcoming feelings phobia is the key to a better life and more fulfilling relationships.

–This text refers to the Paperback edition.

by Susan M. Johnson

Since its original publication in 1996, this volume has been a helpful guide to therapists in the practice of emotionally focused therapy. This second edition addresses the many changes in the field of couples therapy, including updated research results linked to clinical intervention and new information on using EFT to address depression and PTSD. A new section covers the growth of couples therapy as a field and its overall relevance to the mental health field, accompanied by coverage of how recent research into the nature of marital distress is consonant with EFT. Other new features are a section on EFT and feminism, as well as a section on cultural competence for the EFT therapist.

Written by a leading authority on emotionally focused couples and marital therapy, this second edition is an up-to-date reference on all aspects of EFT and its uses for mental health professionals.

by Richard C. Schwartz

This work demonstrates how therapists can apply systems thinking to understand better clients’ individual psyches. The Internal Family Systems model IFS uses family system concepts to draw a map of the network of subpersonlities that exist within each individual. Step by step details are combined with clinical examples to illustrate how therapists and clients can enhance their understanding fo intrapsychic processes and set a clear line of direction for positive change. The author also extends IFS concepts to our culture and the families within it to produce a form of couples and family therapy.

by Barry W. McCarthy, Emily J. McCarthy

Is sex more work than play in your marriage? Do you schedule it in like a dentist appointment? Do you makelove once a month, twice at the most?

If you answered yes to these questions, you are among the forty million Americans trapped in a low-sex or no-sex marriage.

Now there is help from nationally acclaimed sex and marital experts Barry and Emily McCarthy, who for years have helped couples break down the barriers that have developed between them, and rebuild closeness and longing. Their groundbreaking ten-step program is designed to get sex and intimacy back into these marriages and revitalize relationships. Crafted by years of clinical practice, Rekindling Desire first shows couples how to root out the “poisons” that inhibit sexual desire: shame, guilt, anger, passivity, as well as medical side effects and physical dysfunctions. With sensitivity and tact, the McCarthys then lay out concrete techniques and effective strategies that help couples increase sexual awareness, confront inhibitions, revitalize desire, and integrate intimacy and eroticism.

An exciting new way to spark and sustain desire, Rekindling Desire confronts the secrecy and stigma of low-sex and no-sex marriages, teaching couples how to enjoy a fulfilling, life-long sexual partnership.

by Barry W. McCarthy, Emily McCarthy

Winner of the 2009 Smart Marriages® Impact Award

Think all sex should be earth shattering? The quality of most couple sex doesn’t measure up to the much distorted image of the perfect romantic love/passionate sex encounter portrayed in popular culture. InDiscovering Your Couple Sexual Style: Sharing Desire, Pleasure, and Satisfaction, renowned marital and sex therapist Barry McCarthy and his wife Emily McCarthy urge couples to ignore what they see on TV, in books, or online, and discover their own unique sexual style.

The McCarthys offer three guidelines for sexual satisfaction: develop positive, realistic sexual expectations; explore sensual and sexual options; and communicate sexual desires. With this foundation, couples can take a straightforward survey to determine which of four couple sexual styles best fits their relationship. An understanding of couple sexual styles can play a vibrant role in energizing a couple’s bond and contribute to a satisfying relationship that integrates intimacy and eroticism.

Based on three years of research and treating more than 4,000 individuals and couples, Discovering Your Couple Sexual Style provides information, guidelines, exercises, and case studies that will help readers find their own sexual voice and develop a mutually satisfying sexual style.

by Patti Britton, Helen Hodgson

Tender and erotic, a sensual massage is a highly pleasurable experience – and one of the best ways to express love and affection. Fully illustrated and easy to read, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide[registered] to Sensual Massage” includes original massage programs especially devised to relax, delight, and arouse both men and women. Everything you need to know about giving and receiving sensual massage is here: sensual massage as foreplay, for body gratification, and for healing touch methodology. The book also explains the difference between sensual massage and other types of massage, as well as how sensual massage enhances intimacy. The book will show readers how to get and receive pleasure, reduce stress, and even find their personal ‘erotic style’. “The Complete Idiot’s Guide[registered] to Sensual Massage” also covers the ‘tools of the trade’ that make the experience even more enjoyable – lists of recipes for oils and aromatherapy and thorough explanations of the use of oils, lotions, powders, and even body paints. “The Complete Idiot’s Guide[registered] to Sensual Massage” will be the most detailed and comprehensive book on the subject available today.

by Ellen Bass, Laura Davis

Come to terms with your past while moving powerfully into the future

The Courage to Heal is an inspiring, comprehensive guide that offers hope and a map of the healing journey to every woman who was sexually abused as a child—and to those who care about her. Although the effects of child sexual abuse are long-term and severe, healing is possible.

Weaving together personal experience with professional knowledge, the authors provide clear explanations, practical suggestions, and support throughout the healing process. Readers will feel recognized and encouraged by hundreds of moving first-person stories drawn from interviews and the authors’ extensive work with survivors, both nationally and internationally.

This completely revised and updated 20th anniversary edition continues to provide the compassionate wisdom the book has been famous for, as well as many new features:

• Contemporary research on trauma and the brain

• An overview of powerful new healing tools such as imagery, meditation, and body-centered practices

• Additional stories that reflect an even greater diversity of survivor experiences

• The reassuring accounts of survivors who have been healing for more than twenty years

• The most comprehensive, up-to-date resource guide in the field

• Insights from the authors’ decades of experience

Cherished by survivors, and recommended by therapists and institutions everywhere, The Courage to Heal has often been called the bible of healing from child sexual abuse. This new edition will continue to serve as the healing beacon it has always been.

by Helen Fisher

Why do we fall in love? Romping through evolution, addressing a broad spectrum of species & a huge variety of cultures, Fisher casts her investigative net from the tundras of Siberia to the jungles of Amazonia in her examination of the physical & psychological phenomena of love. Enlightening & entertaining, lucid & learned, Anatomy of Love is a reminder that our Western culture is but the latest fascinating design on an ancient blueprint called the mating game. Fun & delightful to read, offering an abundance of fascinating facts new even to somebody well versed in the minutiae of animal behavior. Unravels this ancient saga of love, abandonment & renewed desire with a vulgar gusto that makes her scholarly investigation immensely readable.

by Claudia Black Ph.D.

Pornography, cybersex, prostitutes, voyeurism, multiple affairs. No matter the ‘drug’ of choice, men who act out sexually leave their partners reeling in fear, rage, incredible shame, and isolation. Deceived was written expressly to help these women better understand what is happening in their lives, garner validation for their experiences, and find a path that offers clarity, direction, and voice.

Bestselling author Claudia Black guides readers to understand aspects of their personal histories that have lead them to be in relationships plagued by sexual betrayal, and reveals how their partner’s behavior can be as addictive as a drug. Black then outlines proactive steps that readers can take to build healthier relationships and take care of themselves, illustrated by accounts of real women who have done so successfully. She teaches women how to set nonnegotiable boundaries in order to heighten their security during this vulnerable period. She reveals ways they can avoid preoccupation with their problems and make positive changes for themselves and their partners.

With Deceived, women will learn to honor themselves by making choices derived from esteem and integrity. In the end, they will have the ability to proactively emerge from emotional isolation, shed secrets and shame, and discover their power.