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Getting it Right This Time

How to Create a Loving and Lasting Marriage

By Barry W. McCarthy, Emily J. McCarthy

Published November 8th 2005 by Routledge – 224 pages

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Description

Although divorce is common, it often holds negative associations. Husband and wife team Barry and Emily McCarthy view divorce and remarriage with optimism, showing it to be a courageous choice that should not be viewed as personal failure but rather as a positive step towards a better life. In Getting it Right This Time, they zoom in on remarriage issues and identify the factors that led to the end of a marriage, using that information to help you learn from past mistakes and start over.

Marriage is based on a respectful, trusting relationship, and the McCarthys affirm that remarriage is an important choice that can lead to a rich, rewarding, and loving second chance. Getting it Right This Time provides resources needed to assess and change attitudes, behavior, and feelings to help you build a new marriage and step-family that will bring out the best in you as individuals and as a couple.

Reviews

"This is the best book to help people accept the reality of divorce and commit to a successful, satisfying re-marriage. Barry and Emily McCarthy's book is exceptional as an insightful, honest, humane, realistic, and wise guide for successful re-marriage." - Michael E. Metz, Psychologist, Marital & Sex Therapist, author of Coping with Premature Ejaculation and The Styles of Conflict Inventory

"This practical, proactive, and wonderfully accessible book gives you just what you need; it busts destructive myths, provides clear examples about what is normal and what to expect along the way, and lays out easy-to-follow guidelines, exercises, and solutions. You'll become your own expert and create success for your stepfamily." - Diane Sollee, MSW, Founder and Director, SmartMarriages

"Getting It Right This Time is a straightforward, clearly written, practical book for the general reader who has been divorced. It can also be a helpful book for those who are contemplating divorce, because the authors' discussion of past problems serves to put issues into perspetive in a way that may be helpful before one leaves one's first marriage. This is a basic "nuts and bolts" guidebook that would be a useful resource for couple therapists to recommend for those who want to read a self-help that has specific advice and guidelines." - Mary Ann Norfleet, PsycCRITIQUES, Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, May 24, 2006 Vol. 51 (21), Article 3

"Getting it Right This Time provides resources needed to assess and change attitudes, behavior, and feelings to help you build a new marriage and step-family that will bring out the best in you as individuals and as a couple." - Jonathan Kroll, Editor, ADOLESCENCE

Contents

What Happened to 'Happy Ever After?' The Courage to Divorce. Learning From the Past. Choosing Well. Money and Second Marriage. Intimacy and Sexuality. Stepfamilies and Stepparenting - Yours, Mine, and Ours. Should We Have a Child? Traps and Vulnerabilities. Understandings and Agreements. Dealing with the Ex-spouse. The Imperfect Marriage: Surviving Hard Times. Marriage After Fifty. Cost-benefit Assessment of Difficult Marriages. Pride and Acceptance. Appendix A: Choosing an Individual, Couple, or Family Therapist. Appendix B: Marriage and Stepfamily Support Groups and Enhancement Programs. Appendix C: Recommended Books.

Author Bio

Barry McCarthy, Ph.D., is professor of psychology at American University in Washington, a clinical psychologist, and a certified sex and marital therapist. He has published over fifty professional articles, twelve book chapters and has presented over one hundred and fifty workshops nationally and internationally. He has coauthored eight books with his wife.

Emily J. McCarthy, having worked as a speech therapist, now collaborates with her husband on books that address issues faced by married couples. She has authored eight books with Barry, including Sexual Awareness, which has sold more than 500,000 copies.