The Courage to Love Again: Creating Happy, Healthy Relationships After Divorce [Hardcover]

Sheila Ellison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2002

For many divorced women, the prospect of reentering the dating game is a daunting one. Too often they are afraid of another failure and of not being able to get past their own feelings of inadequacy. This fear of intimacy with another man keeps many single mothers from sticking their toes back in the relationship waters. The challenges of raising children, supporting a family, managing household chores, and money concerns only make moving on with life that much harder.

Now, Sheila Ellison uses her warmth, wisdom, and personal experience to provide women with the tools they need to overcome the inner and outer obstacles to finding healthy, happy love. This book will show you how to find the courage to look at your mistakes, accept your choices, forgive yourself, and go on to a place of self-acceptance and love.

Part One explores the inward journey-how we learn to love and to accept who we are, and how to gain the courage to get rid of the old patterns and make room for new ideas and dreams. Part Two is about the outward journey toward a healthy new relationship. This is the exciting part, where you put your newfound self-knowledge into action.

Miracles do happen! says Sheila Ellison. You do deserve it all, and you can have it all if you follow the steps presented here. The Courage to Love Again is your blueprint to finding an enduring, loving relationship.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With divorce rates so high, more women need to learn how to forge new relationships than ever before. Speaker Sheila Ellison (The Courage to Be a Single Mother) explains how to do just that in The Courage to Love Again: Creating Happy, Healthy Relationships After Divorce. Various factors may deter women from dating again (e.g., fear of intimacy or failure; past negative experiences; not trusting that one's feelings), and Ellison addresses them, offering ways to move ahead in relationships and life. She covers self-love, expectations, blending lives and even sex, making this a helpful guide for recently single women.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Sheila Ellison is an author, founder of community youth and mentoring programs, a nationally recognized speaker on successful parenting, the mother of four and the step-mother of two. She has appeared on Oprah!, and her work has been featured in 0 Magazine, Parenting, Family Circle, the New York Daily News, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Oakland Tribune.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1 edition (July 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062517503
• ISBN-13: 978-0062517500
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,346,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a great help to get to the next step... the new relationship, August 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Courage to Love Again: Creating Happy, Healthy Relationships After Divorce (Hardcover)

Sheila Ellison opens up again in the follow-up book to "Courage to Be a Single Mother," this time sharing wisdom from her experience in beginning a new relationship after divorce. Through her own remarriage and creating a blended family, Ellison expertly guides the reader into learning how to trust and learning how to CREATE the relationship you want -- taking charge of your own happiness, so to speak. A great book, I'd recommend it to anyone who is finding themselves starting over.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Starting Over, April 5, 2009

By 

Kimberly M. Olver "Author of Secrets of Happy... (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Courage to Love Again: Creating Happy, Healthy Relationships After Divorce (Hardcover)

Ms. Ellison wrote a book for women who are trying to get back into the relationship game after a divorce. Having gone through it herself, Ellison provides a unique perspective on just how devastating a divorce can be to a woman's self-esteem and how dating again really is a process.

I liked that she divided her book into two parts and spoke of the inner work that must be done first, and then she addresses the issues involved in starting over. She is a big advocate of getting really clear on what you want and no longer catering solely to the man in your life. Treat yourself and your needs as at least as important as your man's.

She believes in making and constantly adjusting a list of what you want in a partner, as well as those things you don't and she cautions about settling for less than you want. She says there are good men out there who are also looking for meaningful, committed relationships so don't use that as an excuse for settling for someone less just because you think it might be your last chance and someone is better than no one.

She also has some practical advice about meeting men, dating, sex and even what to say to your children when you are ready. I really appreciated that Ellison does not pretend to know the magic words or the magic time frame but allows that each woman is different and must do things in her own time without great consideration given to all the unsolicited advice a single woman will hear from others.
I think this book may provide newly divorced women some good advice about how to first prepare themselves and then how to get back into the dating scene.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, November 2, 2008

By 

Beth Bullock "Beth" (West Palm Beach, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Courage to Love Again: Creating Happy, Healthy Relationships After Divorce (Hardcover)

I loved this book. It's a great read with great writing and it completely captured my interest throughout. After more than four years of being single and hesitating to even date, this was the perfect book to get me motivated and start looking for love again. I've recommended it to many who have also enjoyed the book.