Riley K. Smith and Tina B. Tessina, licensed Marriage and Family Counselors, are psychotherapists in private practice in Southern California. They are close friends and have worked together and separately, teaching, leading therapy groups and training therapist-interns since 1975. How to Be a Couple and Still Be Free was a successful course for two years before it became a book. Out of their therapy practice, couples classes and workshops, their group living experience, their own no-holds-barred friendship, and their own separate couple relationships, the authors have developed the view about relationships which led to the insights and techniques described in this book. Tina B. Tessina, Ph.D. is a licensed psychotherapist in S. California since 1978 with over 35 years’ experience in counseling individuals and couples and author of 14 books in 17 languages, including: It Ends With You Money, Sex and Kids The Ten Smartest Decisions a Woman Can Make After Forty Love Styles and The Real 13th Step She writes the “Dr. Romance™” blog, and the “Happiness Tips from Tina” email newsletter. Online, she’s known as “Dr. Romance™” appears frequently on radio, TV, video and podcasts http://www.tinatessina.com Dr. Romance™ Blog: http://drromance.typepad.com Twitter.com/tinatessina Facebook.com/TinaTessina Facebook.com/TheReal13thStep Riley K. Smith, M.A., http://www.rileyksmithmft.com/ is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has been helping couples and individuals create satisfying relationships since 1974. He supervises and trains therapists in addition to his psychotherapy practice. He is co-author of: How to Be a Couple and Still Be Free True Partners and Equal Partners
"Being a couple yet free is our next challenge on the evolutionary ladder. This book successfully helps us unravel the myths that block that achievement. It does so with warmth, readability, and balance. It recreates everyday problems and paints the path to their solution." Warren Farrell, Ph.D., author of
Why Men Are the Way They Are.
For over two decades, this book has been recognized as the established handbook on relationships between equals. It introduced the concept: cooperation instead of compromise or competition. It gives clear instructions to show you how to be true to yourself and true to your partner at the same time.
Thoroughly revised and expanded, this new edition is written as a manual and includes fresh and new step-by-step instructions and guidelines to create a mutually supportive partnership allowing each individual to be equal in a relationship. It introduces the Negotiation Tree, an ingenious tool that can help any couple turn a struggle or fight into a cooperative problem-solving session.
The book is designed especially for:
- People who seek a model for equal partnership.
- Couples who want to transform struggle into teamwork.
- Couples who are married, cohabiting, or dating.
- Couples who are in a traditional or alternative relationship.
How to Be a Couple and Still Be Free is the perfect tool for designing and creating a relationship unique to your individual personalities and situation. With it, any couple can learn to work together to create a loving, sustainable, healthy, and equal partnership that you will treasure.