Mind Over Marriage: Transforming Your Relationship Using Centering Prayer and Neuroscience

If we want to resist the urge to blame our spouses for relationship difficulties, where do we start? According to Dr. P. Gregg Blanton, that place is no further than our own minds.

In this innovative book, Dr. Blanton presents an entirely new model for exploring the interconnections between minds and marriages by using a synthesis of scientific research and Christian contemplative thought. Through real-life examples, we come to understand how the mind ordinarily works and how these mental functions affect our marital relationships, from unions that are just starting out to those suffering from the strain of work and other responsibilities. But there is hope: we can retrain our minds through contemplative thought, namely centering prayer and the six skills and abilities stillness, attention, openness, letting go, union, and love that grow out of its practice. Using case histories along with exercises at the end of each chapter, Mind Over Marriage offers practical application of these skills, leading to the development of desirable behavioral traits such as calmness, attunement, and trustworthiness. This novel approach for helping couples restore balance to both their minds and marriages shows us how to use our brains to their fullest capacities, and how to return love to the center of our relationships.

P. Gregg Blanton, EdD, is a professor of Psychology & Human Services at Montreat College and an adjunct professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. As a licensed marriage and family therapist, he maintains a private practice, provides supervision, offers training programs, and conducts retreats for couples. He lives in Asheville, NC, with his wife and two children.