Couple Skills: Making Your Relationship Work

Matthew McKay's and Patrick Fanning's self-help books have already sold more than 600,000 copies. Now, the popular authors teach the communication skills couples need to build happy, intimate, lasting relationships. Step-by-step, couples learn how to communicate effectively, negotiate really difficult conflicts, and more.

Love takes work, but, when it comes to relationships, it pays to work smarter. Couple Skills, Second Edition, revised and updated from the therapist-recommended classic, will show you how to work smarter in your relationship. You'll learn to improve communication, cope better with problems, and resolve conflicts with the one you love in healthy and creative ways. Each chapter teaches you an essential skill that supports greater relationship satisfaction and deeper intimacy.

New to this edition is a chapter on using acceptance skills, developed from the revolutionary new acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). These new approaches will help you to accept your partner's feelings (and your own emotions) without judgment. Using these techniques will help you decide what you really value in your relationship and then commit to acting in ways that further those values every day.