The Solution Focused Marriage: 5 Simple Habits That Will Bring Out the Best in Your Relationship

by Elliott E. Connie

Whether a couple is simply in a rut or on the verge of divorce, there are five habits that can turn things around and bring out the absolute best in any relationship. Drawn from years of working with thousands of couples, Elliott Connie explains how these five habits, can transform a relationship in the most amazing ways. Using stories and exercises, Elliott demonstrates how to successfully implement the habits into one’s own relationship and experience positive benefits immediately. Elliott Connie is a solution focused therapist with a private practice based in Keller, Texas. Elliott has traveled throughout the United States and Europe, including the UK, Sweden, and Canada, training psychotherapists to work more effectively with couples, and helping couples to build more satisfying relationships. To learn more about Elliott, visit www.elliottspeaks.com.

Genres: Marriage

94 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 14, 2013

About the author

Elliott E. Connie, MA (Professional Counseling, Texas Wesleyan University, 2006) LPC, is a psychotherapist who practices in Keller, Texas. He is the founder and Director of The Solution Focused Universe, an online learning community that also conducts trainings to help professionals master the Solution Focused Approach in their work.

Reviews

[Deb Newswanger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great steps to a great marriage

This is a great resource for therapists and pastors. It has encouraged me to look at my couples in my practice differently and find new ways to help them grow a stronger marriage.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, it should be stated here that I am a psychotherapist (MFT Intern at the time this review was written). I work with couples, families and individuals (including adolescents) on relationship and personal issues, and coping/living with mental health disorders. My specialty is relationships, and this includes a lot of couples work. My theoretical orientation is primarily postmodern, and is based largely upon the Solution-Focused Therapy models of Insoo Kim Berg and Steve De Shazer (et al). This handy little book (and make no mistake, it is very short--48 pages) is therefore right up my alley.

I found the interventions mentioned to be relevant and helpful and his explanation of the principals behind them to be concise and meaningful. This is by no means a handbook for a therapist practicing couples therapy, as it is far too brief, but it does contain what might be considered a decent introduction to the idea of solution-focused couples therapy, which I find to be highly effective.

Although the intended audience of this book seems to be psychotherapists who may purchase his other, more expensive works, this book will also be highly effective in helping couples get started in connecting/reconnecting in effective ways. I would absolutely recommend it to any couple. The simple exercises contained in it are worth their weight in gold.

Conclusion: do not hesitate: yes, buy this book. 5 Stars.

Addendum: This book was inexpensive as proportionately appropriate given it's very short length. In reality, I think this book has been published to serve as a sales pitch for the author's other related SFT couples therapy book in the field (Solution Building in Couples Therapy), which costs $55 in paperback at Amazon.com ($41.24 on Kindle as of this review), and is almost three times the length at 136 pages. I have literally hundreds of psychology/psychotherapy books, and I have begun being very picky with what I purchase. Do I want the other book? Yes. Would I spent $55 on that 136 page book? Probably not. $41.25? Still, likely not. $12? Yes. A book on this subject by the same author with less than three times the page count should cost less than three times the price, imho. At $55, it seems overpriced. Especially as it sounds like it contains a lot of introductory material for people new to SFT, which I am not.