Go Dr. Phil !! As a physician I have recommended this book to many of my patients whose relationships were in trouble. I feel Dr. Phil's approach is right on: you have to work on yourself first. Most people who feel their relationship is doomed tell me, "Well, my partner won't listen to me...", or "he/she isn't willing to do the work...". He has you look and work on yourself FIRST then involves you in seven steps. The couples I have recommended this book to have found it very helpful. There have been a few cases I have seen where the partner never participated in the process and my patients happily ended up moving on with their lives with the aid of this book.For those people who cannot afford or do not have access to therapy this book/program is wonderful (actually even if you do!). He "tells it like it is", and drills the point home that we are each responsible for the state our relationship and life are in (excepting cases of abuse). As Dr. Phil says you have to "get with the program" and work on yourself and relationship "until". A great self-help book.
Forget the Myths In his book "Relationship Rescue," Dr. Phil offers great guidelines on how to build a healthy relationship. He warns us against the devastating effect of the myths that exist in our society about relationships (i.e.: in a great relationship you never fight, you are romantic all the time, you only have common interests...) and encourages us instead to stop working on our partners in order to make them fit these unrealistic standards, and take a look at how we operate. For him the key is in realistically evaluating the state of your relationship, and becoming aware of what you do that sabotages it. If you don't like what you see and understand your role in it, you gain the power to change things and create the relationship that works for you. In the book I particularly enjoyed this idea of giving up working on your partner and your relationship to make them better. I recently encountered this idea in the book "Working on your Relationship Doesn't Work" by Ariel and Shya Kane. It is a very unique and soothing book with an immediate power of transformation and I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone interested in discovering novel ways to create meaningful, intimate and magical relationships. Check it out!WHEN NOTHING ELSE WORKS - BUY THIS CD!!! Me&my s/o have had problems from day one but we both tried to cover it up and work through them. After a year engagement we decided to set a date and plan the wedding. Something explosive happened in our relationship and we were at our end, the wedding was cancelled. It has caused us to basically give up and seperate. This is the last thing both of us wanted to do especially with 2 young children, but we didn't know what else to do but to take a break from one another, so I am setting to leave. After watching the relationship rescue episodes of Dr. Phil on television, I said I have to get this book - this is my only hope. I'm not even done with the book and I already feel confident that my relationship will work out just fine with time and dedication. Dr. Phil is down to earth, he doesn't play any games. I listen to the CD in my car on my way home from work since I never have time to read. Make sure you buy the Relationship Rescue workbook along with it! If your partner wants your relationship to be rescued he will go through this workbook with you. The CD will lift you up in ways you can't imagine...when everything else fails - you need to buy this cd!
