Save Your Marriage in Five Minutes a Day, by Bonnie Jacobson, PhD with Alexia Paul
Save Your Marriage in Five Minutes a Day is comprised of twenty-one chapters divided into four parts on the topics of the marriage spark, domestic life, communication, and conflict. To promote marriage-building behaviors and thinking, Dr. Jacobson offers psychological insight, stories, and tips related to action, words, and thinking.
The layout is consistent and would be conducive to easy browsing. In addition to the typical headings are indented sections of verbal suggestions in “SAY THIS” sections, tips in gray “Extra Credit” boxes, gray bars in the margins of the stories, and gray pages at the end of chapters highlighting a list of applicable “Five-Minute Strategies.”
On the surface, this book would seem most useful for people who are willing to flip through the book from time-to-time while consciously trying to put some suggestions into practice rather than reading it and promptly forgetting about the content. But like with any book, it’s also possible to benefit from a new or reinforced concept or phrase that might influence one’s thinking and lead to change. One of such concepts in this book that I think could be of benefit to someone is the one Jacobsen most wants the reader to take away from the book: “You can’t depend on anyone else for your happiness” (p.207). While I would personally like the quote more with the “else” removed, it is good if one takes steps toward change without depending on the other to do so first.
Besides contemplating particular concepts and tips, people could also benefit from thinking about the title. Really, it doesn’t have take long at all to consciously do something good for a spouse. I think even if someone were to read this book and only remember the “five minutes a day” part, and try to spend five conscious minutes being good to their spouse, that that would be a great benefit.
Even though this book could be quite beneficial for some readers, for me it would hold more obvious, personal value if I were to consciously try out some tips. Also, I think I would gravitate more toward a marriage book written from a point of view closer to my own (for example, from my faith perspective and one that has less of a focus on the influence of the past on one’s behavior). On another note, it might add credibility if a background note about the stories scattered throughout the chapters was provided to clarify if they were based on clients’ stories she came across in her psychotherapy practice or research.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free for review through the BookSneeze program.
For more information on the book, please see the publisher’s website: http://www.adamsmediastore.com/product/save-your-marriage-in-five-minutes-a-day/self-help-relationships
