CENTERING AND THE ART OF INTIMACY: A NEW PSYCHOLOGY OF CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS [Paperback]

Gay Hendricks (Author), Kathlyn Hendricks (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 8, 1993

With this enlightening book, readers can conquer the most common obstacles to satisfying love--the twin fears of aloneness and closeness. The keys to surmounting these fears lie in developing awareness, honesty and commitment. The authors offer activities and exercises to help readers develop these relationship skills.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Fireside (March 8, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671767194
• ISBN-13: 978-0671767198
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,326,313 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gay Hendricks has served for more than thirty years as one of the major contributors to the fields of relationship transformation and body-mind therapies. Throughout his career, Dr. Hendricks has coached more than eight hundred executives, including the top management at firms such as Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, and KLM. Along with his wife, Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks, he has coauthored many books including Conscious Loving, The Corporate Mystic, and his latest, the New York Times bestseller Five Wishes, which has been translated into seventeen languages. Dr. Hendricks received his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Stanford University. After a twenty-one-year career as a professor at the University of Colorado, he founded the Hendricks Institute, which offers seminars in North America, Asia, and Europe. He is also the founder of a new virtual learning center for transformation, www.gaiailluminationuniversity.com,
and The Spiritual Cinema Circle.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, but be aware of what you're buying, October 19, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: CENTERING AND THE ART OF INTIMACY: A NEW PSYCHOLOGY OF CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS (Paperback)

In a moment, I am going to review and comment upon this book, and describe to you what it is. First, let me post a brief warning so you know what this book is NOT.

I am kind of an "absent-minded professor" type of guy. I assumed that this book was intended to help someone like me get to be a little more "centered," calm, and inwardly focused, in order to be better prepared for a relationship with the next lady in my life. Please take note: that isn't exactly the aim of this book. The book begins with the assumption that you are ALREADY in a relationship, and that you wish to improve it. The exercises are geared toward couples, and often make no sense to attempt alone. Therefore, technically, I wasted my money. However, I still think this could be a pretty useful book to me, someday. For you, perhaps that day is already here.

"Centering and the Art of Intimacy" is laid out in two parts. The first part, "A New Psychology of Close Relationships," attempts to shake up the way you think about relationships. It consists of a few helpful essays, which provide real life examples and metaphors to help you conceptualize the paradigm the authors wish to explore with you. This part of the book ends with the authors discussing their own relationship, and the ways in which the act of commiting themselves to productive change had a positive impact on their relationship. I liked that chapter, it's pretty inspiring to read.

The second part of the book is longer, more comprehensive, and more interactive. It includes exercises of all kinds, designed to get you to take stock of who you are, what you and your partner want, where you want to be, and how you might get there. As I said, the book is extremely interactive, with at least 10 or 12 activities and worksheets. Readers are encouraged in various ways to keep a journal, to help foment thought about the changes they seek to make. Some of these exercises can, perhaps, occasionally get a little too "New Age" for some people, but there is a wide range to explore. You can probably find a few things that you could benefit from.

Basically, this book could be pretty useful to a couple already in a relationship. If you appreciate, enjoy, and/or value the approaches taken in this book, I would like to recommend that you seek out "Games People Play," the classic text of transactional analysis, by Dr. Eric Berne.

Enjoy, and good luck!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very insightful book!, May 13, 2002

By 

manoj252 (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: CENTERING AND THE ART OF INTIMACY: A NEW PSYCHOLOGY OF CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS (Paperback)

I am thoroughly impressed with this book! It has helped me so much in dealing with my boyfriend; I have found it to be a tremendous help in breaking out of the patterns that damage a relationship!