Contented Couples: Magic, Logic or Luck? Paperback – 14 Jun. 2022

This book offers the reader a comprehensive and easily digested scientific understanding about attachments in relationships. It's not only for people in romantic relations. If your looking for a deeper understanding of your own experiences within relationships this will be helpful.

When life is a journey of supreme happiness and the lowest despair, most of us would rather travel it with company. The fact is that most of us do find a partner, in itself extraordinary when our personal journeys connect us with a tiny fraction of the world's population. In Contented Couples Anne Power sensitively and insightfully addresses this most basic of human needs - how and why relationships are made, often for life, their level of success bearing little connection to how the couple met. A must read for all of us, whether professional or unqualified, to help us understand and appreciate the precious gift of opening our hearts and lives to another.

This book is beautifully written, exploring different couples’ relationships and breaking down different aspects of the relationship through a digestible, professional, therapeutic lens. Anne Powers takes the time to explain where certain theories come from and then incorporates this information into explain couples and their behaviours. Eighteen couples are interviewed through out the book, which gives the reader a real sense of presence and being in a relatable environment. It’s a wonderful book for anyone who is looking to grow their relationship.

This book was a total eye-opener. Beautifully and scientifically presented information, eloquent writing, and warmth and compassion, Anne Power writes masterfully. I was interested to know of the Pursuer-Withdrawer patterns present in all relationships, and of the common difficulties which each of the 18 contented couples seem to have undergone, in common with their less happy counterparts, before reaching happiness and harmony. It was a book which will provide enormous inspiration and encouragement to all couples, young and old, to spend time figuring out differences and not to give up too easily, and be rewarded by lifelong companionship, humour, care and romantic love. The book would make an excellent gift for singles as well as couples as it is both fascinating and life-affirming, and can open people up to loving again.

I found this book really helpfulAnne has a captured the essence of how our attachments can work to support each other and grow

How I enjoyed my time with this book and the eighteen couples it introduces! Encouraged by Anne Power's sensitive questioning, each of the couples shares their story of meeting and then of living and developing together. These set me to wondering anew, and with greater appreciation, about my own thirty-four year marriage. Anne's exploration of the roles and interplay of culture, science, sense of self and attachment proclivities in relationships fascinated me. I welcomed and chuckled with the couples' discussions of the usually contentious issues of money, sex and fights. "Contented Couples" is a life-enhancing read. If you believe yourself lovable and ready to love, this book will probably deepen your considerations of long-lasting. It was time well spent for sure.

Anne Power has written a thoughtful book, full of insight and compassion. Unusual to find a psychology text so jargon-free and accessible.

This book will give you hope. As a couples therapist, sometimes I work with a couple and I think to myself that there is no way they could go from massively distressed to happy with my interventions. But this book taught me and reminded me that even the most distressed couples can find contentment. Great read!