The 8 Essential Traits of Couples Who Thrive

Formerly titled Now That I'm Married, Why Isn't Everything Perfect?, this wise and useful guide has gained extraordinary critical acclaim from the foremost experts in the relationship field, and has helped thousands of couples achieve more fulfilling relationships. Drawing on more than twenty years of couples' counseling experience, Dr. Susan Page explains the eight essential traits of a thriving marriage:

Desire, belief, and commitment
Goodwill
Clear values
Boundaries
Perspective
Relationship-enhancing communication
Intimacy
Pleasure

This helpful, optimistic guide also reveals how husbands and wives can escape the crushing burden of unrealistic expectations that many people bring to a marriage, and what attitudes, techniques, and day-to-day pleasures will forge a happy, enduring relationship. With clarity, warmth and common sense to complement her profound insight, Susan Page delivers an extraordinary work for anyone who's in a relationship--and anyone who wants to be.

Susan Page holds a master of divinity degree and was a campus minister at Washington University in St. Louis and at Columbia University in New York City. She founded and directed the first university-based human sexuality program at the University of California at Berkeley. Since 1980, she has devoted herself full-time to writing about relationships and working with both couples and singles. She is the author of four books on relationships, including the national bestseller If I’m So Wonderful, Why Am I Still Single? She lives in Berkeley, California, with her husband of 20 years.