📖 Infidelity & Divorce Recovery

Stage 1 – Understanding Infidelity & Its Impact

• Esther Perel – The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity (broad, compassionate reframing)

• Shirley Glass – Not “Just Friends” (clarifies betrayal dynamics & boundaries)

• Peggy Vaughan – The Monogamy Myth (debunks myths around exclusivity and honesty)

Stage 2 – Coping & Early Healing

• Douglas Snyder, Don Baucom, Kristina Coop Gordon – Getting Past the Affair (structured recovery program)

• Janis A. Spring – After the Affair (classic model for healing both partners)

• Dennis Ortman – Transcending Post-Infidelity Traumatic Stress Disorder (PITSD) (trauma-focused lens)

• Anne Bercht – My Husband’s Affair Became the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me (personal, survivor’s journey)

Stage 3 – Rebuilding, Repairing, or Moving On

• Tammy Nelson – The New Monogamy (exploring new relational agreements)

• Michelle Weiner-Davis – Healing from Infidelity (practical strategies to rebuild)

• John Gottman – Science of Trust (research-grounded on rebuilding intimacy)

• Constance Ahrons – The Good Divorce (healthy restructuring of family life post-divorce)

• Katherine Woodward Thomas – Conscious Uncoupling (transformative approach to ending relationships)

Stage 4 – Broader Healing & Grief Integration

• John W. James & Russell Friedman – The Grief Recovery Handbook (grief-specific tools, often needed post-affair/divorce)

• Mira Kirshenbaum – Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay (decision-making clarity)

🌿 Intimacy & Sexual Health

Stage 1 – Foundations of Desire & Intimacy

• Emily Nagoski – Come as You Are (female sexuality science & empowerment)

• Barry & Emily McCarthy – Discovering Your Couple Sexual Style (practical framework for couples)

• Jack Morin – The Erotic Mind (understanding fantasies & passion)

• Michael Bader – Arousal: The Secret Logic of Sexual Fantasies

Stage 2 – Healing Blocks & Shame

• Tina Schermer Sellers – Sex, God, and the Conservative Church (releasing shame from intimacy)

• Wendy Maltz – The Sexual Healing Journey (guide for survivors of abuse)

• Marty Klein – Sexual Intelligence + His Porn, Her Pain (navigating difficult intimacy dynamics)

• Doug Braun-Harvey & Michael Vigorito – Treating Out of Control Sexual Behavior (for compulsivity concerns)

Stage 3 – Building Fulfillment & Connection

• Tammy Nelson – Getting the Sex You Want (relational exercises for couples)

• Michelle Weiner-Davis – The Sex-Starved Marriage (balancing mismatched desire)

• Ian Kerner – She Comes First (focus on female pleasure)

• Laurie Mintz – Becoming Cliterate + A Tired Woman’s Guide to Passionate Sex (accessible, empowering for women)

• Bernie Zilbergeld – The New Male Sexuality (male perspective)

Stage 4 – Specialized/Advanced

• Virginia Laken – Making Love Again (post-illness intimacy)

• Ralph & Barbara Alterowitz – The Lovin’ Ain’t Over (post-prostate treatment couples)

• Miriam Kaufman, Cory Silverberg – The Ultimate Guide to Sex and Disability (inclusive & affirming)

💞 Couples & Relationships

Stage 1 – Foundations of Love & Attachment

• Amir Levine – Attached (attachment theory in relationships)

• Gary Chapman – The Five Love Languages (popular but useful language for couples)

• Harville Hendrix – Getting the Love You Want (Imago therapy approach)

Stage 2 – Relational Dynamics & Repair

• John Gottman – The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work (research-backed marriage health)

• Sue Johnson – Hold Me Tight (emotionally focused therapy model)

• Matthew McKay & Patrick Fanning – Couples Skills (practical tools)

Stage 3 – Expanding Intimacy & Perspective

• Esther Perel – Mating in Captivity (balancing desire & domesticity)

• Meg-John Barker – Rewriting the Rules (rethinking relationship norms)

• Franklin Veaux & Eve Rickert – More than Two (exploring non-monogamy)

Stage 4 – Representation & Cultural Contexts

• Jessica P. Pryde (Ed.) – Black Love Matters (Black voices on romance & representation)

• Kevin & Melissa Fredericks – Marriage Be Hard (practical, faith-based Black couple perspective)

• Maria P. P. Root – Love’s Revolution: Interracial Marriage (multicultural lens)