Invitation to Intimacy: What the Marriage of Two Couples Therapists Reveals About Risk, Transformation, and the Astonishing Healing Power of Intimacy - Softcover

Tiesel-Jensen, Judy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1944528261 ISBN 13: 9781944528263

Publisher: Et Alia Press, 2021

Synopsis

Encounter the power of intimacy-thrilling, grueling, and profound-through the innermost workings of the 35-year relationship between two marriage therapists.

• 2022 Nautilus Book Awards Winner in the Relationships & Communication Category
• 2022 Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) Silver Winner in the Relationships/Sexuality Category
• 2022 Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist in the Relationships Category

Much more than "just sex," true intimacy flows from invitations to be deeply known to another. One of our strongest emotional desires is to feel understood, received, and loved in our closest relationships. Yet, to be known and to know another deeply, especially in the context of committed partnerships, we risk pain, loneliness, and betrayal. Is intimacy worth the risk? 

This candid memoir begins with a husband's dramatic diagnosis and weaves marital flashbacks and counseling sessions into the progression of his disease. Despite their degrees, licenses, and the specialized knowledge they shared daily with their own clients, they faced the same challenges as everyone in lasting relationships. What would sustain them through the darkest nights of their marriage?

Through the everyday decisions and extraordinary movements that compose one marriage between two therapists, we see what is possible for every couple-the exhilarating, frightening, and ultimately healing power when we accept invitations to intimacy.

About this title

About the Author

Judy has been a therapist for over thirty years. She is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Psychologist Emeritus, and holds professional memberships in the American Association of Marriage & Family Therapists (AAMFT) and EMDRIA (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing International Association). She was among the first to get advanced training in Discernment Counseling.Judy pursued a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy to fulfill her long-held interest in couple relationships. From early in her first marriage, she and her late husband-also a licensed counselor-led parenting workshops and marriage enrichment retreats, and eventually saw couples together in counseling. Her private practice in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area specialized in couple therapy and trauma. She taught marriage and family therapy students for over twenty years, was lead researcher for the Minnesota Family Strengths Project, and has served on boards locally and nationally for family organizations. Judy is now creatively retired and lives in Arkansas with her husband, Peter. Together they have eight children and fifteen grandchildren. She enjoys living on the river and watching pelicans from her writing desk.

Edition details

• Publisher: Et Alia Press
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1944528261
• ISBN 13: 9781944528263
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288