Fifty percent of new marriages end in divorce, yet 40 percent or more of divorced people regret their divorce—a dismal statistic that doesn’t stop William Doherty from finding hope in the institution of marriage and real joy in its possibilities.

In his latest book, Take Back Your Marriage: Sticking Together in a World That Pulls Us Apart, Doherty, a respected family therapist and director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at the Univer-sity of Minnesota, uses humor and stories from his long practice and his own marriage to show couples a way to a happier life.

Looking at the causes of marriage breakdown, Doherty partially blames our individualistic, consumer society. He also cautions couples with children not to lose their marriage to parenting and to be selective about the company they keep—discussing marital problems with the wrong therapist, family members, or friends can often undermine a marriage.

Along with several checklists to gauge the health of your marriage, like “Are You on the Verge of an Unnecessary Divorce?,” Doherty encourages the use of simple and powerful rituals—from how you say goodbye to each other in the morning to how you choose to make love at night—to rescue or strengthen a marriage. “A ritual is something that has positive emotional meaning to both parties,” writes Doherty, and that significance is what separates it from routine.

Named by Utne Reader in 1997 as one of the 10 most innovative therapists in the United States, Doherty refuses to give up on love.

“A client couple was very disconnected, low in conflict but disconnected. The wife would get home from work around 8:30 at night, and usually they did not talk much during the rest of the evening. But they came up with the following talk ritual. When she came home, [her husband] would find her and greet her. He would start the water for tea while she changed clothes. And then she would go to the living room, he would bring in the tea, and they would sit and talk…. This nightly ritual was a way back into feeling like a married couple.”

—from Take Back Your Marriage: Sticking Together in a World That Pulls Us Apart

by Cass Erickson

get more info Take Back Your Marriage: Sticking Together in a World That Pulls Us Apart, is available from the Guilford Press or your local bookstore.

to order, go to: www.guilford.com or call 1-800-365-7006. ISBN# 1-57230-459-6. $21.95.