If you think understanding individuals is difficult, try working with couples — especially those who are fighting or have other serious communication problems. But for Andrew Christensen, PhD, relationships hold a compelling interest. The veteran University of California, Los Angeles, psychologist has spent the last 35 years treating, studying and developing protocols for some of
Does your marriage need therapy? If you’re like most people, the correct answer may well be yes, but your answer is probably no. In most marriages, one or both partners resist the idea of counseling. Some can’t afford it, or find it inconvenient. And many view therapy as a last resort — something only desperate
One of Andrew Christensen’s favorite old jokes goes like this: What is the bride thinking as she walks into the church to meet her groom? Answer: Aisle. Alter. Him. “It’s that notion of change,” says Christensen, a psychology professor at UCLA. “And men have the same notion — that once we’re married, things will improve.”
The myth of marriage goes like this: somewhere out there is the perfect soul mate, the yin that meshes easily and effortlessly with your yang. And then there is the reality of marriage, which, as any spouse knows, is not unlike what Thomas Edison once said about genius: 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.
