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"With All My Heart and Soul"By Peggy Wentworth Fellouris, Ph.D. The Road We Travel Together A three-part presentation of a satisfactory life within a marriage, within a family whether under one roof or two. This is a work of nonfiction based on the author's notes and interviews with clients. Their names and identifying characteristics have been changed to protect their privacy. Any similarity between the fictitious names and those of living persons is entirely coincidental. Some of the cases involved are composites: So many of the cases exhibit similar problems or characteristics it was more expedient to present them as one. The quotes, although sometimes edited, retain the speaker's original voice. "With All My Heart and Soul" ($17.95) is currently available at Baker Books, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts. CLICK HERE for the Order/Inquiry Form to process your order today! BOOK REVIEW: New Book by Local Therapist Goes Directly to the Heart of a Marriage"With All My Heart and Soul" by Peggy W. Fellouris, Ph.D. Book Review by Johanna Tippins, Literary Journalist In an inspiring, original work that showcases her direct, no-nonsense personal style, New Bedford-based therapist Dr. Peggy W. Fellouris explores and explains the dynamics of relationships between couples, both married and divorced. "With All My Heart and Soul" takes the reader on a therapeutic, restorative journey that includes the healing of a troubled marriage, the cooperative dissolution of a marriage, and rejuvenation necessary to begin anew. As a marriage and family therapist, professor and divorce mediator, Dr. Fellouris says her primary goal is to provide healing in a damaged relationship. "I have devoted my career to helping people build lasting marriages," she says in her book. "Throughout my years of family counseling, I researched marriages, looking for those ingredients that have made lasting, fifty-year marriages." Now, readers of "With All My Heart and Soul" can benefit from the research she has done. Using tapes of counseling sessions from various aspects of her private practice (with her clients' permission), Dr. Fellouris demonstrates her goal-oriented philosophy of "results, not regrets," and provides a virtual handbook to a long-lasting, healthy, communicative relationship. In her work with troubled couples, Dr. Fellouris assists them focusing on the things that went into drawing them together in the first place, and invites them to investigate how much those initial factors matter in a long-term relationship. Differing expectations about work, sex, child-rearing, families, and a host of other ingredients can make or break a relationship, and Dr. Fellouris' common-sense approach to uncovering what lies at the root of the difficulty in a relationship can help couples come to terms with their own. When "Happily-Ever-After Is Not Always Possible" (as the title of one of the chapters in the book has it), and divorce is the answer to keeping both partners in a relationship sane, Dr. Fellouris navigates those treacherous waters, drawing on her experience as one of the area's leading divorce mediators. With a compassionate eye and even hand, Dr. Fellouris guides couples through what is undoubtedly one of the most painful experiences of their lives, to help them understand that families can continue to thrive after divorce court. Her child-centered, non-judgmental approach to ending a marriage has won accolades from attorneys, judges and divorcing couples throughout the area, and her book outlines the basics of what she does so well. As Dr. Fellouris writes, "Once couples have decided that no fixing can salvage their marriage, they need to go on to decide that their divorces will not shatter their families." And, if a second marriage is the "triumph of hope over experience," then Dr. Fellouris' book ends on a very triumphant note indeed, as she outlines the steps for entering into a successful second marriage. "With All My Heart and Soul" is a workbook for a viable relationship that is valuable for its realistic approach, empathetic attitude and, above all, the healthy results a reader can expect from applying Dr. Fellouris' clear-eyed approach. "With All My Heart and Soul" by Peggy Wentworth Fellouris, Ph.D., is available in paperback at Baker Books, Route 6, North Dartmouth, MA, for $17.95 . Other Works by Dr. Peggy Fellouris:
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