Monday, January 23, 2012

Love Again / Jan Harrell and Alan Robins

Reviewed by: BigAl

Genre: Non-Fiction/Self-Help

Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words 


Availability (Note: book available in paper versions only.)

Kindle US: YES UK: YES Nook: YES Smashwords: NO Paper: YES
Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

Both psychologists, Jan Harrell and Alan Robins are also partners in life. They have written one other book, Personal Strength – Spiritual Joy: Bridging Heaven and Earth.

Description:

It is in our most emotionally intimate relationships that our deepest, unresolved developmental issues (ah, yes! We are never finished!) are triggered. A marital or committed relationship is therefore the developmental vehicle for everyone, man and woman, to face the final frontier of childhood and finally "grow up."

Harrell and Robins explain what they mean by this, how this need to grow manifests itself in a relationship, and what to do about it for a stronger and better relationship.

Appraisal:

When evaluating non-fiction books I try to supply a reality check. Although I might not be an expert in whatever the subject is, I can evaluate whether it fits with my life experience and feels right, even if the ideas presented seem mostly new. Unlike the only other book I’ve reviewed on this subject, what the authors of this book had to say did feel right.

An ex-spouse (yes, this book could have practical application for me) once told me that a good relationship requires constant work. The happily-ever-after ending doesn’t just happen without continuing effort. Harrell and Robins not only agree, but also help you to understand why this is and what to do about it. Unlike many self-help books, the authors don’t pretend they’re perfect. They use examples, many from their own relationship, to illustrate their points.

As I was reading, one concern I had was that it seemed to be a requirement that both people in a relationship read and understand the concepts Love Again teaches. Although that would be the ideal situation, I realized that while that would be beneficial, if for no other reason than to give you some shared insights and terminology, it wasn’t necessary. In fact, in one section the authors give hypothetical situations and discuss how they can be improved using the “tools” they had introduced earlier. In at least one of these example scenarios, the tools are used in a one-sided fashion.

Although it felt as if this book was primarily aimed at improving the relationship between you and a spouse, significant other, life partner (or whatever term you prefer), it is applicable to other relationships, especially a parent-child relationship. Several examples throughout the book even used situations that had happened with the authors and their children as illustrative stories.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four stars

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