THE ROUGH PATCH: Marriage and the Art of Living Together by couples therapist and psychologist Daphne de Marneffe, Ph.D. The book explores why marriages today are harder than ever before, but how and why couples can and do prevail through the rough patches. Today couples are trying to make their marriages work better and longer than ever before--for many divorce is only a last resort. And yet, the stresses conspiring against today’s marriages can be overwhelming-- we are living longer, our parents are living longer, and the financial and work/life pressures that couples are trying to bear are more challenging than ever. With The Rough Patch leading clinical psychologist Daphne de Marneffe, PhD, can talk about the challenges confronting today’s couples, and with optimism - how they can and do persevere through them. Daphne de Marneffe is available for interviews: January 22-26. In an interview, she can discuss:
Marriage in American Today – Couples are trying to have closer marriages over longer lives than ever before, and college-educated couples have the lowest divorce rate of all. How are they making it work?
The most common rough patches couples experience (alcohol, affairs, financial pressures), those that are unique to the 21st century, and how couples get through them
Why children are so hard on marriage and the single most important thing you can do to keep romance alive
“More Money, More Problems” – Why the wealthy are not immune to marital rough patches, and why money is such a hot-button issue across the board
Why children are so hard on marriage and the single most important thing you can do to keep romance alive
Daphne de Marneffe’s invaluable tips for working through any rough patch: “Guts” (because being self-aware and responsible for your role in the relationship takes courage), “Get a Life” (because the solution to marital issues is often creating more distance); and the “Golden Ring” - treat the relationship as a creation between you and your partner, where the relationship’s needs are as valuable as the needs of each partner.
Daphne de Marneffe, PhD, is a psychologist and the author of Maternal Desire: On Children, Love, and the Inner Life. In her clinical practice, she offers psychotherapy to couples and individuals. She teaches and lectures widely on marriage, couple therapy, adult development, and parenthood. Her research and scholarly work has been published in psychoanalytic journals. She and her husband have three children and live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
