World Class Marriage is an engaging, practical and personal guide for relationship success written by two experienced marriage and relationship educators who share a loving and successful 30-year marriage with each other. The authors combine the latest and best information and guidance about how couples can avoid relationship damage and create lasting love, with unique insights and personal examples from their own successful marriage and extraordinary career teaching relationship skills around the world. This warm and practical guide will help readers keep or retrieve the love, closeness, and intimacy everyone wants from marriage.

1 Acknowledgments 2 Definition of a World Class Marriage 3 Introduction 4 The Nature of Marriage 5 The Structure of a World Class Marriage 6 Diagram of the Structure 7 Part One: The Sixteen Pillars of a World Class Marriage 8 1. Setting Goals 9 2. Avoiding Blame 10 3. Understanding the Nature of Behavior 11 4. Using Power Listening 12 5. Giving up "Tit for Tat" 13 6. Assuming Self-Responsibility 14 7. Avoiding Cool Talk 15 8. Changing Behaviors, Not Your Partner 16 9. Knowing When to Surrender 17 10. Giving Caring the Way It Matters 18 11. Handling Hot Topics 19 12. Resolving Conflicts and Disagreements 20 13. Giving Apology and Forgiveness 21 14. Growing Yourself 22 15. Forging a Bond 23 16. Nurturing the Honeymoon 24 Part Two: Applying the Pillars 25 Living Together 26 Gay/Lesbian Relationships 27 Kids and the Relationship 28 Getting Men to Communicate 29 Being Yourself in the Relationship 30 Concluding Thoughts 31 Endnotes 32 Bibliography 33 Workshops 34 About the Authors 35 International Editions