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Full Title: Passages of Marriage
Five Growth Stages That Will Take Your Marriage to Greater Intimacy and Fulfillment
Author(s): Dr. Frank Minirth; Mary Alice Minirth; Dr. Brian Newman; Dr. Deborah Newman; Dr. Robert Hemfelt; Susan Hemfelt
Publishing / Edition: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991

Click here for the Table of Contents of the book



Content Review

This book has a whole parade of authors. To quote the jacket flap:
Dr. Frank Minirth is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Along with Dr. Paul Meier, he founded the Minirth-Meier Clinic in Dallas, Texas, one of the largest psychiatric clinics in the United States.

Mary Alice Minirth is a homemaker and the mother of four children.

Dr. Brian Newman is the clinical director of inpatient services at the Minirth-Meier Clinic in Richardson, Texas. He received his M.A. in counseling from Grace Theological Seminary and his Doctorate of Philosophy from Oxford Graduate School.

Dr. Deborah Newman is a psychotherapist with the Minirth-Meier Clinic. She received her M.A. in counseling from Grace Theological Seminary and her Doctorate of Philosophy from Oxford Graduate School.

Dr. Robert Hemfelt is a psychologist with the Minirth-Meier Clinic who specializes in the treatment of chemical dependencies and compulsivity disorders.

Susan Hemfelt is a homemaker and mother of three children.
Likening them to the developmental stages of a human being, the authors state that marriages follow a similar set of "passages". These five "passages" are summarized on the back of the book in the following way:

• Young Love - the first two years - overcoming the idealistic notions of marriage and molding two individuals into one unit, a family

• Realistic Love - the 3rd through the 10th years - recognizing the subconscious reasons you married your spouse, the hidden agendas and secret contracts

• Comfortable Love - the 11th through 20th years - establishing and maintaining individual identity along with your marriage identity

• Renewing Love - the 21st through 30th years - grieving and accepting the inevitable losses of your marriage: financial stresses, lost youth, unrealized dreams, lack of sexual intimacy

• Transcendent Love - 31 years and thereafter - unveiling new reasons for existing after the major life tasks of achieving financial security and nurturing the next generation have been completed



Related Resources

Borrow the eBook from Internet Archive

• There are several other books here that share a similar premise:

Augsburger, David. Sustaining Love. Regal Books, 1988.

Rock, Maxine. The Marriage Map. Dell Publishing, 1986.

Sills, Judith. A Fine Romance. Ballantine Books, 1987.