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

Howard J. Markman (Author), Scott M. Stanley (Author), Natalie H. Jenkins (Author), Susan L. Blumberg (Author), Carol Whiteley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2003

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Twelve hours to a better marriage, questionable; 12 hours to read the book, feasible. Three of the team of authors who wrote Fighting for Your Marriage expand on that title's speaker-listener techniques with advice on commitment, forgiveness, and expectations. The program represents a no-fuss beginning point for couples starting to realize that marriage is hard work. The writing is direct and effective, and the entire exercise is palatably presented like a baseball game (first base is talking, second is having fun, and so on). The usual, undocumented "reference shows" vagaries abound, unfortunately, and advice, though sound, can be both unoriginal ("how you and your partner treat each other is key") and generic ("work to identify and decrease negative behaviors and increase positive ones"). Still, the techniques are workable and deceptively simple (e.g., "soften your tone"), even if they depend heavily on reader determination. Less a rescue manual for troubled marriages than a Cliff's Notes for a successful one, this is an optional purchase for public libraries, which might also consider Laurel Mellin's The Pathway: Follow the Road to Health and Happiness. (Library Journal, November 15, 2003)

Review

"This book makes lasting love achievable."
— John Gray, author, Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

"I love this book! It's like hiring your own top-notch relationship coach for twelve hours and getting a lifetime's worth of lessons for creating a loving, lasting marriage."
— Michele Weiner-Davis, author, The Sex-Starved Marriage and Divorce Busting

"It actually makes working on your marriage fun. In fact, it introduces an approach that believes having fun is one of the hallmarks of a successful marriage."
— Diane Sollee, smartmarriages.com, and founder and director of the Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education

"Delivered in a personal and engaging style, the most helpful book yet from the 'dream team' of marriage educators."
— William J. Doherty, Ph.D., professor, University of Minnesota, and author of Take Back Your Marriage

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (October 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787968005
• ISBN-13: 978-0787968007
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book Especially for Men, July 29, 2008

By 

Terry A. Bell "Terry A. Bell" (Tulsa OK USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 12 Hours to a Great Marriage: A Step-by-Step Guide for Making Love Last (Paperback)

My wife and I have enjoyed this book so much we have bought dozens of copies and provide them for couples with whom we counsel in the Marriage and Family Institute of Tulsa. It is well researced and has great illustrations. It's condensed, but powerful approach to the marriage relationship is something that men seem to enjoy. Where we've had trouble getting men to read other books, they seem to benefit by this one. Easy to read. Well researched, good illustrations. Best thing I liked was the help for speakers and listeners. Terry Bell (Author of "The Love Ethic")The Love Ethic

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 12 Hours to a Great Marriage, May 13, 2007

By 

Anne M. Welker "Relationship Coach" (Campbell, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 12 Hours to a Great Marriage: A Step-by-Step Guide for Making Love Last (Paperback)

This book is for couples that want to improve their realtionship. All the skills taught have been tested with research over the last 30 years. My relationship with my husband has improved greatly with these skills and so have couples I've worked with privately teaching these skills.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book for ALL Couples, March 20, 2010

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T. Brown (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 12 Hours to a Great Marriage: A Step-by-Step Guide for Making Love Last (Paperback)

After hitting a rough patch in our marriage, my husband and I decided we needed some help. We are only a few chapters into this book (we read it together and discuss the chapter twice a week) but I can say that it has already had amazingly positive effects on our marriage. My husband and I have been together for over nine years, and until we hit this rough patch in our marriage, I believed that our communication skills were way better then most couples we knew. I was wrong. The best thing that I can say is that my husband is on board and we are doing this together. It feels great to actually be able to talk to my husband on a deeper level then either of us ever knew that we could.