Relationship Essentials

Practical Tools for Building Healthy Connections

A dynamic mother-daughter team offers methods for creating life-enhancing relationships, healing damaged ones, and preventing connection breakdowns before they happen

We are social beings who celebrate our most significant relationships — Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and so on. Then why do we so often mess them up? And in our time of nonstop global connectivity, why are more of us suffering from isolation and disconnection than ever before? Most of us learn to read, write, and do math at school. But we learn to relate to others by what we see modeled at home. This modeling can sometimes be great and other times not so much, especially if we witness marital breakdown, intergenerational feuds, or abuse. This can lead to a lifetime of trial and error, not just in romantic partnerships but also in friendships and workplace relations. Coauthor Lauren Reitsema experienced her parents’ divorce and a subsequent breach with her mother, coauthor Joneen Mackenzie. They healed by practicing what they here teach. Using evocative personal examples and illustrations from the hundreds they have taught, and always backed by science, they navigate familiar concepts such as boundaries, fighting fair, and communication (beyond just talking), turning them into practical DIY “power tools.” These techniques are easy to understand and use, and while not magic, they can have seemingly miraculous love- and life-enhancing results.

Key Selling Points

The authors serve as executive leaders at the Center for Relationship Education (CRE) which was founded 20 years ago by Mackenzie to teach relationship skills and is represented in 47 states and 7 countries

Shares the science- and field-tested CRE techniques being taught in schools, businesses, and nonprofit organizations and among military and emergency responders

The authors have appeared in more than 250 interviews and podcasts and have been featured in more than 200 news articles.