Empowered Love ─ Use Your Brain to Be Your Best Self and Create Your Ideal Relationship

Ever wonder why your self-control, rationality, and compassion seem to go out the window when dealing with your partner? Couples therapist and psychiatrist Steven Stosny explains it all in this revelatory book about the divide between our adult and our toddler brains. Too often, conflict in our intimate relationships reactivates our least-regulated "toddler" side, bringing out an instinctive desire to assert our own way and make everything a zero-sum game. Dr. Stosny shows the way toward overcoming these destructive impulses and nurturing our more loving and clear-eyed inclinations. Drawing upon his decades of experience in working with troubled marriages, he distills his insights into an actionable guide for embracing our best impulses in our relationships.
Empowered Love is a valuable guide for married and live-in couples who struggle with an unhealthy dynamic; those already in individual or couples therapy who want a highly effective aid to help them communicate with their partner; and licensed therapists and counselors looking for an in-depth perspective on the developmental stages in play with relationship strife.
Praise for the Author
"The book takes readers beyond verbal affirmations to taking actions that provide a meaningful basis for moving ahead with the healing process." — Kirkus Reviews
"Stosny's workbook-like exercises help you apply what you're learning to your own unique situation. You'll feel like you have a personal coach guiding you to better times!" — Michele Weiner-Davis, author of Divorce Busting and The Sex-Starved Marriage
"Stosny has broken new ground for individuals moving forward from any type of betrayal or violation of the intimate bonds of relationships. He takes the reader beyond hurt, even beyond healing, into the area of personal mastery by way of compassion." — Patricia Love, Ed.D., coauthor of How to Improve Your Marriage Without Talking About It and Never Be Lonely Again

Steven Stosny, Ph.D., is the founder of CompassionPower, which offers counseling on emotional reconditioning. His most recent books include Soar Above: How to Use the Most Profound Part of Your Brain Under Any Kind of Stress and Living and Loving After Betrayal. Stosny's numerous television appearances include The Today Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show. A consultant in family violence for the Prince George's County Circuit and District courts as well as several mental health agencies, he has treated more than 6,000 clients and has taught at the University of Maryland and St. Mary's College of Maryland.