books on Communication/Conflict Resolution
Communication, Key to Your Marriage by H. Norman Wright
Many specialists in family relations say the number-one problem in marriages today is not sex, money or children, but lack of communication between husband and wife. H. Norman Wright tackles this dilemma in the Christian book on couples communication. Presenting insightful ways to reduce marital conflict, manage anger, build one another’s self-esteem and just plain listen to one another, Wright provides couples with the resources to understand each other at new and deeper levels. Ideal for married and pre-married couples, counselors, lay counselors, mentors and pastors, this classic has been fully revised and updated for marriages in the new millennium.
Fight Fair by Tim and Joy Downs
Everyone disagrees on some things; this is inevitable. The question is, how can we disagree with those we love, but increase the odds that we will live and love to fight another day? How can we learn to fight fair? In this companion to One of Us Must Be Crazy… and I’m Pretty Sure It’s You (a treatise on “making sense of the differences that divide us”), Tim and Joy Downs aren’t playing around (too much, anyway). This time they concentrate less on how to make sense of our diferences, and more on winning at conflict without losing at love.
When couples fight, tempers flare, tongues loosen, and behavior occurs that can cause major damage to the relationship. Fight Fair! teaches couples how to have healthy disagreements. It is a candid and realistic “rulebook” for married couples to ensure that their conflict is God-honoring and respectful of their partner. There is also plenty of immediate application to ensure that future conflicts don’t create permanent scars.