Dr. Stephanie's Relationship Repair for Couples ~~~BOOK REVIEW~~~

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Prior to my current relationship, I spent my entire life avoiding close relationships.  Of course, that is a completely separate topic of discussion, which I do actually plan on one day introducing into my blog.  However, I have now been in a relationship with one person for about 17 years now.  It has certainly had it's ups and downs, and I would be lying if I said I haven't spent times wondering "why did I ever get myself into this?"  Furthermore, while the "ups" are fantastic, the downs have, at times, crossed the border of being "chaotic".  I once had a friend tell me, "when you guys are good, you truly are reaaaaaaaaaaal good, but when you're bad, you're "reaaaaaaaaaaaaal bad"," and another dubbed us "Whitney and Bobby." In other words, until recent years, where we've slowly learned the concept of "doing something different" in order to break the cycle, there was no "middle ground."

I recently had the opportunity to read this book written by Stephanie Weiland Knarr, titled "Dr. Stephanie's Relationship Repair for Couples," which has really evoked a myriad of emotions.  My thought process has went from "why did I ever get myself into this," to "why haven't I thought of this before."  It's that thought process that has led me to taking steps to strengthen the bond, vs walk away from it, which is something that has crossed my mind on more than one occasion.

Upon visiting her website, you'll see that Dr. Stephanie takes a customer service approach to minimizing conflict within relationships.  I've been in customer service for most of my adult life.  I excel at my job, and remain consistently in the top 5 percent when it comes to providing outstanding service, diffusing escalated situations, and delivering high-quality results.  I have admittedly found myself often wondering how I can be so successful in creating such positive impacts when it comes to my job, yet continue to fail at home.  I never really thought, however, about the skills I implement at my job, and apparently leave there every day at 4:30pm.  Why don't I use those same skills in my personal relationships?  If I did, would my friendships and relationship with my fiance be much stronger?  Would I learn to eliminate the frequency of conflicts?  I never gave these questions any consideration until I stumbled upon Dr Stephanie's book, which I received for free in exchange for my honest review.  Dr. Stephanie poses some thought-provoking topics, and offers suggestions in an easy-to-read format, designed to build stronger relationships.  I would recommend her book to any couple, before, after and during times of personal struggle.