Couples often connect and fall in love by talking. But what conversations should a new couple have to know if their love will last a lifetime – through challenges, surprises, joy, and pain? And if a couple been in a relationship for years, what conversations should they have to reinvigorate the connection and passion that first brought them together, but may have become routine?
From the leading research scientists on marriage and family, authors of the million-copy bestseller The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Workand founders of the world-renowned Love Lab, comes EIGHT DATES: Essential Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by Drs. John Gottman & Julie Schwartz Gottman,coauthored by Doug Abrams & Rachel Carlton Abrams, MD (Workman Publishing; February 5, 2019; $24.95).Offering empowering ways to discover the love each partner wants and deserves, this extensively tested program of eight fun, conversation-based dates will result in a lifetime of understanding and commitment, whether a couple is newly in love or has been together for decades. Because a happy relationship isn’t the result of having lots of things in common--as we often think--it comes from a couple knowing how to address their core differences in a way that supports each partner’s needs and dreams.
For forty years, the Gottmans have studied what separates the masters of relationship from the disasters. It comes down to eight important topics that can make or break a relationship. These topics are explored in the following dates:
Date #1: Lean On Me: Trust & Commitment
Date #2: Agree to Disagree: Addressing Conflict Early reveal: Some conflict is unresolvable—as it should be
Date #3: Let’s Get It On: Sex & Intimacy The chapter we all turn to first – it’s only as hot as your vulnerability
Date #4: The Cost of Love: Work & Money It’s not about the money, it’s about what the money means
Date #5: Room to Grow: Family
Date #6: Play With Me: Fun & Adventure A frustration of long-term couples is reframed and reinvented
Date #7: Something to Believe In: Growth & Spirituality
Date #8: A Lifetime of Love: Dreams They begin when you’re a child, and they can grow when you share a life – if you have the conversation!