Can Your Relationship Be Saved? How to Know Whether to Stay or Go (Rebuilding Books) [Paperback]

Michael S. Broder (Author)

Book Description

Series: Rebuilding Books; For Divorce and Beyond | Publication Date: April 1, 2002

A wise and compassionate guide to assessing a faltering love relationship, and answering the fundamental question asked by the book's title: Can Your Relationship Be Saved? Dr. Broder addresses individuals and couples in marriages, engagements, living-together and dating arrangements or any other type of love relationship or romance -- long- or short-term, and of any sexual orientation. His 40-item "Can Your Relationship Be Saved?" Inventory asks the right questions. But readers are not left there. The chapters that follow lead readers in the decision making process by gently guiding them in exploration of what is likely to happen "if...?" "What if I go?" "What if I stay?" Readers will find direction in answering those questions for themselves, and the information and strategies to help them act on their decisions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...help[s] real couples solve real problems, and provides them with clear, practical action steps to insure their implementation..." -- Janet Wolfe, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist, New York City

"...strategies to salvage and rekindle... unions that can be saved... shows how to part company without guilt..." -- Arnold A. Lazarus, Ph.D.
Author of MARITAL MYTHS REVISITED

"I would strongly recommend that any person who is ambivalent about his or her relationship read this book. Promptly!" -- Albert Ellis, Ph.D., President
Albert Ellis Institute, New York City
Author of FEELING BETTER, GETTING BETTER, STAYING BETTER

...sympathetic but no-nonsense analysis and advice...for people ambivalent about their relationships. Bottom line: thoughtful, nonjudgmental, pointed and thoroughly helpful. -- Infodad.com; April 25, 2002

...useful guide to assessing a relationship, understanding relationship turmoil, working through ambivalence and consequences of staying vs. leaving bad relationships. --The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, CA; June 2, 2002

From the Publisher

REBUILDING BOOKS

For relationships, divorce, and beyond -- books for those building relationships, going through divorce, or rebuilding their lives after divorce. Inspired by the work of renowned divorce therapist, Dr. Bruce Fisher, the Rebuilding Books offer expert information and practical self-help procedures for adults and children. These straightforward, life-affirming resources can improve relationships and help make the divorce process easier, healthier, and less painful, leading to more-fulfilled lives and stronger "second-time" relationships.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: Impact Publishers, Inc. (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886230412
• ISBN-13: 978-1886230415
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #636,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book applies to all relationships!, August 28, 2002

By 

Colleen Reynolds (Farmington, ME United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Can Your Relationship Be Saved? How to Know Whether to Stay or Go (Rebuilding Books) (Paperback)

Dr. Broder's book is more than 'interesting'. It pulls you in and makes you take a deep look at any troubling relationship. Although the focus is on love relationships; marriages and romances, the assessment and analysis can also be applied to friendships and work related discontent. Dr. Broder is always optimistic and has a 'can do' attitude whether you choose to stay or to leave.

He does not let you 'beg' the question, but elicits what to keep in mind when you are not yet ready to make the decision to stay or go! Either way there is 'work' to do: affirmations, visualizations, note taking and checklists.

The reader is invited to read this text cover to cover or to go to the chapters that apply today, once you have completed the self-assessment. "Can Your Relationship be Saved?" is also a reference book to go back to time and time again to review just how far you've progressed.

34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fixing It, June 24, 2002

By 

Robert V. Heckel, Ph.D. (Columbia, SC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Can Your Relationship Be Saved? How to Know Whether to Stay or Go (Rebuilding Books) (Paperback)

> Book Review
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> Can Your Relationship Be Saved?
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> One of the latest self-help series is aimed at clients who are experiencing troubled relationships. The work is by Dr. Michael Broder, a highly experienced and visible (radio, TV) marital and relationship therapist who practices in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania not Mississippi). The title "Can Your Relationship Be Saved? How to know whether to Stay or Go" describes the content well which systematically focuses on first assessing the strengths and weaknesses of your relationship, then explores the pain of staying vs. the pain of leaving, then the consequences of either decision.
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> A major focus is on feelings of ambivalence in persons in troubled relationships. This may also be translated as conflict and involves all the typical combinations - approach/approach,
avoidance/avoidance, double approach/avoidance etc. each of which leads to indecision and unhappiness and instability in the relationship. Dr. Broder helps chart pathways through the ambivalence and provides guidance in deciding whether to stay in the relationship or to leave. He weaves in meaningful case examples illustrating problems, insights and solutions based on his extensive experience.

Dr. Broder offers a 50 item true/false test to help readers evaluate their relationship and aid in determining whether their relationship can be saved. He raises interesting and critical questions the answers to which he provides in detail and with supporting examples. For those of us who are more scientifically inclined, I wish that he had provided statistical analyses for this instrument as well. Their absence in no way diminished the value of the instrument or its use in clarifying the thinking of the person seeking help. The remaining Chapters (6 & 7) guide the reader through the healing process related to either decision: yes, the relationship can be saved or conversely how to adjust to the single life. This work, as with others in the series offers an inexpensive, meaningful and helpful supplement to ongoing psychotherapy or as a guide to those who are merely in the contemplative stage. It may also serve as a gentle reminder to the busy therapist regarding questions needing asking and issues to be addressed.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A no-nonsense book about when a relationship needs to end, June 3, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Can Your Relationship Be Saved? How to Know Whether to Stay or Go (Rebuilding Books) (Paperback)

Written by an experienced psychologist, media personality and popular speaker Michael S. Broder, Can Your Relationship Be Saved? is a no-nonsense book about when a relationship needs to end, and when it is capable of weathering trouble with perseverance, balance, and possible professional help. Specifically intended for the friends and family of those in troubled relationships, as well as people who don't understand why their relationship is in such strife, Can Your Relationship Be Saved? is a thankfully direct and steady take and complicated human situations recommended for the non-specialist general reader concerned with salvaging and strengthening their relationships, friendships, and familial bonds.