The rough patch: marriage, midlife, and the art of living together

Description

From a leading clinical psychologist who has counseled couples and individuals for decades, a wise, radical, and optimistic approach to marriage that promises compatibility between an individual's development and the often relentless demands of a relationship. People today are trying to make their marriages work over longer lives than ever before₇for their children's health and well-being, and for their own. Indeed, among the college-educated, divorce rates have declined. But staying married isn't always easy. In the brilliant, transformative, and optimistic The Rough Patch The Rough Patch De Marneffe offers readers seasoned wisdom on these difficulties, addressing the psychological, emotional, and relational capacities we must cultivate to overcome them as individuals and Intimate and sometimes gritty, The Rough Patch is an essential, compassionate resource for people trying to understand "where they are "on the continuum of marriage, giving them a chance to share in other people's stories and struggles. With humor and deep seriousness, de Marneffe helps men and women understand themselves in order to move in the direction we're all trying to go: a life lived with integrity, vitality, and love.;The rough patch: an introduction -- A brief history of the midlife crisis -- Feeling close, in love and sex -- Marriage as a story -- Affairs, flirting, and fantasy: they're never about nothing -- Alcohol and other attempted escapes -- Money: the knife in the drawer -- Lovesickness and longing: putting them to use -- Body, age, health: the stakes only get higher -- The empty nest: children, parents, and the turning of the generations -- Staying or leaving -- Love is a conversation. The rough patch: an introduction -- A brief history of the midlife crisis -- Feeling close, in love and sex -- Marriage as a story -- Affairs, flirting, and fantasy: they're never about nothing -- Alcohol and other attempted escapes -- Money: the knife in the drawer -- Lovesickness and longing: putting them to use -- Body, age, health: the stakes only get higher -- The empty nest: children, parents, and the turning of the generations -- Staying or leaving -- Love is a conversation.