The Responsive Marriage: Finding the Path Out of Reactivity

When you marry, your heart overflows with enthusiasm, exhilaration, and optimism. You can’t wait to start a new life with this one whose mere presence or voice causes an abundance of feel-good neurotransmitters to flood your brain.

But soon after, differences in temperament, gender, family of origin, and marital expectations collide. You discover that the characteristics and behaviors you once found attractive in your mate, are now sources of irritation and frustration. Conflict erupts, causing reactivity in your temperament to surface more often. Before long, your dialogue degrades with frequent accusations and debates about perspective.

In The Responsive Marriage, Dr. Donald W. Welch shows you the enemy in this fight isn’t your spouse. Unmanaged reactivity, those involuntary and unregulated reactive messages you inadvertently send your spouse when you’re triggered, is the culprit.

Using practical tools and methods, sound biblical principles, and scientifically verified practices, he teaches you to recognize reactivity, understand its origin, and work together to eliminate it. Imagine a marriage with these characteristics:
• No fights
• Full choice and voice expression
• Being fully understood
• Constant positivity and thanksgiving

Too good to be true? Come discover that this kind of marriage is within your reach.

Dr. Donald W. Welch, Ph.D, M.S., LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist, professor, scholar, and nationwide speaker. He holds a bachelor’s degree, three master’s degrees, including a master’s of divinity, and a PhD from the University of Kansas. He’s an ordained minister, a certified sex therapist, and founder of the Center for Enriching Relationships (www.enrichingrelationships.org), a professional counseling center with multiple sites in San Diego, California. In 2022, he founded the Welch Family Therapy Institute (www.welchtherapyinstitute.com) to provide innovative marriage tools and resources to churches and mental health practitioners. Dr. Welch lives in Coronado, California with his wife, Robin (pictured with Dr. Welch), and they have two grown children.