Light in the Mirror: A New Way to Understand Relationships

Mother Teresa often spoke about the greatest poverty in the world, a poverty especially of more developed countries: the lack of meaningful connection between people.

Millions of people fear intimacy and commitment, and yearn for deeper connection in their relationships. What most people really lack is a connection with their own hearts, a far deeper wisdom than the mind can ever give. It is this wisdom of the heart that guides the way through fear, and opens the door to more fulfilling relationships.

Light in the Mirror shows how to connect with this essential part of ourselves. It gives us a view of relationship as part of the spiritual path, not something separate. The Vissells demonstrate a true psycho-spiritual perspective. You will learn how to use your significant relationships as mirrors to see and understand the deeper, hidden parts of yourself. It is only by this self-awareness that you can transform your relationships into joy-filled unions.

There are more and more books now on relationship, but hardly any written by a couple deeply in love since 1964. Light in the Mirror is a sensitive blend of heart and mind, of masculine and feminine viewpoint. It addresses many of the day-to-day issues of relationship, inspiring the reader rather than being overly mental or psychological. Perhaps more than anything else, it is real. The Vissells' teaching is by example:  most effectively their own, as well as the examples of the many people they have seen in twenty-five years of individual and group clinical experience. They humbly share their own failures and sufferings, as well as the joys and triumphs gained by extracting the gifts from these painful ex-periences.

Joyce and Barry's family life with their three children (now grown) is woven throughout Light in the Mirror to illustrate real-life situations. Couples urgently need to know that they can still have a nurturing relationship with one another while raising children.

How do you combine relationship and spirituality? Why are so many people afraid of intimacy?  How can you find a true life partner--a soul-mirror relationship?  What are the secrets of staying in love, of reawakening the passion and attraction? How do you work through the inevitable difficulties which come up in every relationship?  How can you learn from judgment, criticism and blame? How can you say "no" to a partner with love?  When is it time to separate, and how can you stay in love even after divorce? And what is the highest purpose of the love relationship? Readers of Light in the Mirror will not be simply given answers to these important questions, but will be inspired to find the answers within their own hearts. 25 effective practices/guided visualizations offer clear access to the wisdom of the heart.

"Light in the Mirror is an expression of deep love and vulnerability, and the celebration of what commitment can be."
--John Gray, PhD, author of Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus and What Your Mother Couldn't Tell You and Your Father Didn't Know.

"We highly recommend Light in the Mirror to anyone who values clarity, honesty and growth in their relationships. This book is inspiring, powerful and liberating."
--John Robbins, author of Diet For a New America and May All Be Fed.

"In Light in the Mirror, Joyce and Barry Vissell share with deep tenderness and vulnerability the valleys and peaks of their relationship. They go on to share 'practical spirituality,' suggestions that will be most helpful to everyone finding their way home to the heart."
--Gerald Jampolsky, MD and Diane Cirincione, authors of Love is the Answer and Change Your Mind, Change Your Life.

"We have always benefited from the gentle wisdom of the Vissells. Light in the Mirror is one of the rare voices for sanity in the field of relationships."
--Gayle and Hugh Prather, authors of Notes to Myself and I Will Never Leave You.