12 Hours to a Great Marriage: A Step-by-Step Guide for Making Love Last

by Howard J. Markman, Scott M. Stanley, Susan L. Blumberg

For the past twenty-five years, the internationally renowned marital researchers from the Center for Marital and Family Studies at the University of Denver have been helping couples around the globe replace loneliness with connection, frustration with understanding, fear with confidence, instability with commitment, revenge with forgiveness, and monotony with passion. Their program is called PREP®, short for the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program, and it's been so successful that its creators have been featured on Oprah, The Today Show, and 20/20, and its benefits have been documented in The New York Times, USA Today, Womans Day, and Redbook. Until now the only way you could experience this winning twelve-hour program was to attend a weekend workshop. But now, with 12 Hours to a Great Marriage, you can discover the simple, effective strategies that have helped thousands of couples― happily married, having issues, or planning to marry― to develop and protect their love, easily and at your own pace. Each chapter covers one of the key ingredients of the program, like Being Best Friends, Having Fun Together, and Protecting and enhancing Your Love Life, and shows you how to take the steps that research shows are the basis for a long-term, healthy, loving marriage. By practicing the simple skills, taking the thought-provoking self-tests, doing the fun and innovative exercises, and reading real-life couples' inspiring and informative stories, you'll find that in twelve short hours you'll be well on your way to having that great marriage you've always dreamed of.

Genres: Relationships, Marriage, Counselling, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2003

Reviews

[ofits · Rating 5 out of 5]

The steps in this book are immediately actionable, with hypothetical conversations demonstrating their usage, which makes it worth its weight in gold - if the steps are effective. I'm no expert (obviously, or why would I be reading this book?), so I guess I'll have to see for myself, should I ever enter another relationship.

[Kian.ting · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the listener and speaker exercise have used it and the paraphrasing it works. As always love is a verb and marriage is a journey to everyone out there keep trying and never give up.

[Shellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book had some good suggestions. Some I was familiar with and some that I hadn't heard of before. It really needs to be read with your spouse to get the full effect.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for those who are seriously thinking about marriage, or who will be married soon, or who already are married. This is the "PREP" course in book form.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given out at the Army's marriage retreat, this book breaks down into 12 one-hour "lessons" and exercises. It mirrored the sessions in the retreat, but would make a great sand alone resource.

[Samiullah]

Howard J. Markman