If We're Together, Why Do I Feel So Alone?: How to Build Intimacy with an Emotionally Unavailable Partner

by Holly Parker PhD

Overview

Harvard University lecturer and clinical psychologist Dr. Holly Parker offers a step-by-step guide for coping with emotionally unavailable partners.
 
Living with an emotionally absent partner can be overwhelming. Constantly overcoming the silent distance can leave you with the sense that the give-and-take in your relationship has disappeared. But even a broken relationship can be reinvigorated.
 
In helping real-world couples achieve a fulfilling future, Harvard University lecturer and clinical psychologist Dr. Holly Parker has developed a program filled with practical exercises and powerful advice for individuals on both sides of an emotionally damaged relationship. In If We’re Together, Why Do I Feel So Alone?, Dr. Parker presents her revelatory insights on topics such as:
 
• How to identify unavailable personality types, such as the Critic, the Sponge, the Iceberg, the Emotional Silencer, and the Defender
• How to create healthy emotional connections and boost physical intimacy
• How to eliminate habits that trigger self-sabotaging behavior
 
With patience, empathy, and willpower, Dr. Parker’s program can help you restore balance and peace of mind, and turn your damaged partnership back into a rewarding and joyful bond.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780425273487
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/03/2017
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	666,893
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Holly Parker, PhD, teaches psychology at Harvard University, is a clinical psychologist at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, and is the author and coauthor of a number of scientific papers appearing in peer-reviewed journals. She has worked extensively with individuals and couples in the areas of depression, trauma, self-esteem, lifestyle, and relationship issues. A four-time recipient of the George W. Goethals Teaching Prize, and a two-time recipient of the Derek Bok Center Certificate of Excellence and Distinction in Teaching,—awards that go to instructors with the highest student ratings—she has a reputation as a masterful and engaging teacher. In addition to her educational and clinical work, Dr. Parker works to help her patients use lifestyle changes, including exercise, nutrition, sleep, close relationships, and connection with nature, to heal emotional wounds and improve well-being. She is deeply committed to inspiring others to live more connected, rewarding, self-directed, and happy lives through public education. Dr. Parker is also the author of another book on denial as well as a blog.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Chapter 1 Recognizing Emotional Unavailability 1

Chapter 2 Assessing Your Situation 37

Chapter 3 Deciding Your Next Move 71

Chapter 4 Understanding Why 101

Chapter 5 Respecting Boundaries, Setting Ground Rules, Creating Goodwill, and Building Trust 153

Chapter 6 Breaking Barriers 181

Chapter 7 Securing Your Connection 209

Chapter 8 Forgiving the Past 237

Chapter 9 Healing Your Emotional and Physical Self 253

Final Note 271

Acknowledgments 273

Resources 275

References 283

Editorial Reviews

2017 American Book Fest Award-Winner

From the Publisher