Thomas Plante is an Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology at Santa Clara University, a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and a Consulting Associate Professor of Education at Stanford University. He is a licensed psychologist and Diplomate in Clinical Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has published over 70 professional articles on topics such as intimate relationships, coping with stress, and personality. He has over 15 years of experience as a psychotherapist working with individuals and couples with relationship concerns. He has authored several professional books including "Contemporary Clinical Psychology," a clinical psychology textbook recently published by Wiley, and "Bless Me Father for I Have Sinned: Perspectives on Sexual Abuse Committed by Roman Catholic Priests" published by Greenwood. He has taught a course entitled, "Intimate Relationships" at Stanford University each year since 1988.
He obtained an Sc.B. degree in Psychology with honors from Brown University, M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Psychology with honors from the University of Kansas, and completed a clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship in Clinical and Health Psychology at Yale University.
Kieran Sullivan is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Santa Clara University. She is a clinical psychologist who has focused on intimate relationships in her research and clinical work. She worked for six years on the UCLA Project on Newlywed Marriage, studying the factors that are present at the beginning of a relationship that predict divorce and dissatisfaction up to five years later. She has published professional articles on topics such as couples therapy, premarital counseling, and predictors of divorce. She has also taught a course entitled "Close Relationships" at Santa Clara University and Loyola Marymount University.
She obtained a B.A. degree in Psychology with honors at Loyola Marymount University, M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles and completed a clinical internship at Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles, where she implemented a new program for couples to assist them in their relationships and prevent future dissatisfaction and divorce.
Involvement in intimate relationships is one of the most fundamental and universal facets of life. Intimate relationships fulfill many basic human needs (e.g., for love, passion, companionship, etc.) and are the process through which we pass on our genes, our knowledge, and our values to the next generation. Intimate relationships are of great interest to us because they help to define who we are and how we will live our lives. Good relationships can enhance every aspect of our lives and bad relationships can be equally destructive. Because of this, people have examined and given advice about intimate relationships for thousands of years. This is reflected in literature, art, theater, music, and, more recently, through psychological studies about what makes relationships work (and not work).
The scientific study of intimate relationships is relatively new, psychology itself has only been around for about 100 years. Likewise, the clinical practice of couples therapy is a relatively young practice, developing alongside the science of psychology, becoming widespread only about 40 years ago. In this time, however, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of studies have been done on intimate relationships and many different forms of treating distressed couples have been developed and tested. The study of intimate relationships is an exciting and dynamic field, constantly providing new information and new, more effective treatments to help prevent and treat relationship problems.
Perhaps the biggest problem in the field is that there are few avenues to bring information learned in the laboratory and in clinical practice to people other than fellow professionals: to students interested in intimate relationships, to practitioners, and to the general public. Relationship researchers typically publish in scientific journals that are not easily accessible or understandable to non-scientists. Though there are a few exceptions, for the most part our professional knowledge and experience has remain locked up in the "ivory tower." This seems particularly tragic, given the high rate of divorce and the general need for the best information about how to relate successfully to others. Unfortunately, most people tend to get information from "popular" psychology books, which are often based on one person's personal experience of intimate relationships, or, at best, one person's clinical experience with couples in therapy. These books are often not helpful, or at worst, can be destructive by passing out misinformation that hurts rather than helps relationships.
This book is designed to present accurate information about close relationships based on both scientific knowledge and clinical practice. It begins by presenting information about interpersonal attraction and finding a mate, and evolves into an examination of what makes a relationship work once you have found one. Most chapters present empirical information illustrated by case examples about such topics as why relationships are so important, attraction, love, sex and passion, commitment, and marriage. Also included are chapters that present practical suggestions on how to find a mate, how to make your relationship work, and how to find help for your relationship when you need it.
This book is different from other books on intimate relationships in several ways. First, as previously mentioned, the book is based on an integration of psychological research on and clinical experience with intimate relationships. This approach was adopted to help ensure that scientific information is presented in a way that is both accurate and easy to understand. Second, the information presented is drawn from several fields, including sociology, evolutionary psychology and clinical psychology. Many books on intimate relationships are restricted to only one of these approaches. By drawing from all of these fields, we can provide a more complete picture of the entire developmental process of relationships, from finding partners, to dating, to marriage, and ultimately to dealing with marital difficulties. Third, this book takes a biopsychosocial approach. This is a more holistic approach that explains phenomena such as gender differences as an interaction of biological and genetic factors, psychological factors, and socio-cultural factors.
It is our hope that this book can be useful for the millions of Americans who deal with the challenges and joys of intimate relationships everyday.
Involvement in intimate relationships is one of the most fundamental and universal facets of life. Intimate relationships fulfill many basic human needs (e.g., for love, passion, companionship, etc.) and are the process through which we pass on our genes, our knowledge, and our values to the next generation. Intimate relationships are of great interest to us because they help to define who we are and how we will live our lives. Good relationships can enhance every aspect of our lives and bad relationships can be equally destructive. Because of this, people have examined and given advice about intimate relationships for thousands of years. This is reflected in literature, art, theater, music, and, more recently, through psychological studies about what makes relationships work (and not work).
The scientific study of intimate relationships is relatively new, psychology itself has only been around for about 100 years. Likewise, the clinical practice of couples therapy is a relatively young practice, developing alongside the science of psychology, becoming widespread only about 40 years ago. In this time, however, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of studies have been done on intimate relationships and many different forms of treating distressed couples have been developed and tested. The study of intimate relationships is an exciting and dynamic field, constantly providing new information and new, more effective treatments to help prevent and treat relationship problems.
Perhaps the biggest problem in the field is that there are few avenues to bring information learned in the laboratory and in clinical practice to people other than fellow professionals: to students interested in intimate relationships, to practitioners, and to the general public. Relationship researchers typically publish in scientific journals that are not easily accessible or understandable to non-scientists. Though there are a few exceptions, for the most part our professional knowledge and experience has remain locked up in the "ivory tower." This seems particularly tragic, given the high rate of divorce and the general need for the best information about how to relate successfully to others. Unfortunately, most people tend to get information from "popular" psychology books, which are often based on one person's personal experience of intimate relationships, or, at best, one person's clinical experience with couples in therapy. These books are often not helpful, or at worst, can be destructive by passing out misinformation that hurts rather than helps relationships.
This book is designed to present accurate information about close relationships based on both scientific knowledge and clinical practice. It begins by presenting information about interpersonal attraction and finding a mate, and evolves into an examination of what makes a relationship work once you have found one. Most chapters present empirical information illustrated by case examples about such topics as why relationships are so important, attraction, love, sex and passion, commitment, and marriage. Also included are chapters that present practical suggestions on how to find a mate, how to make your relationship work, and how to find help for your relationship when you need it.
This book is different from other books on intimate relationships in several ways. First, as previously mentioned, the book is based on an integration of psychological research on and clinical experience with intimate relationships. This approach was adopted to help ensure that scientific information is presented in a way that is both accurate and easy to understand. Second, the information presented is drawn from several fields, including sociology, evolutionary psychology and clinical psychology. Many books on intimate relationships are restricted to only one of these approaches. By drawing from all of these fields, we can provide a more complete picture of the entire developmental process of relationships, from finding partners, to dating, to marriage, and ultimately to dealing with marital difficulties. Third, this book takes a biopsychosocial approach. This is a more holistic approach that explains phenomena such as gender differences as an interaction of biological and genetic factors, psychological factors, and socio-cultural factors.
It is our hope that this book can be useful for the millions of Americans who deal with the challenges and joys of intimate relationships everyday.
