Making couples happy runs currently (March 2013) on ABC. It is edutainment at its best and very worthwhile viewing. Combines social science with scores & stats and 4 very open and honest case studies. ABC's website Making Couples Happy lets you even assess your own scores as well. Currently you can stream all 3 (4) episodes by clicking on iview from within the ABC page and using its search box. There is a self help book which you can buy and a facebook page to engage on. The series emphasizes strategies, coaching and monitoring. Act right and you will reap the rewards. Scores have been going down until half way in, then the rewards came. There was also reference to the mirror neuron, which particularly intrigued me. It's the monkey see monkey do neuron. Here is a brief extract from wiki. There is no doubt that the principles work in most of the cases. I only took two months 2 prove. The biggest challenge is the continuation of the program after the mentor has left. I believe that 60 day programs are long enough to learn good principles, but not long enough to form life time habits. I strongly recommend accountability groups with monthly meet ups for a full year or even longer. Look at the stats in AA's 12 step program which is a non professional mutual aid program, not a self help program. Another issue with using the self help book is that up to 10% of the population will need more than a self help course. Besides professional help, there is also a spiritual aspect to our human nature and the wounds we carry from life's hurts. In many instances a process of release and much deeper inner healing is required as well.
Our belief systems about love is vital as well. If we are only committed to romantic love, then we are committed to a mutually reciprocal Eros love system, which is initially a 100/100 system. It still works as a 50/50 system. But the danger is when love hormones get depleted or commitment wanes in the face of stress, then our commitment could drop further to 45/45 and eventually collapse.
Below: wiki extract about love hormons
A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another.[1][2][3] Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex.
Our belief systems about love is vital as well. If we are only committed to romantic love, then we are committed to a mutually reciprocal Eros love system, which is initially a 100/100 system. It still works as a 50/50 system. But the danger is when love hormones get depleted or commitment wanes in the face of stress, then our commitment could drop further to 45/45 and eventually collapse.
Below: wiki extract about love hormons
A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another.[1][2][3] Thus, the neuron "mirrors" the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. In humans, brain activity consistent with that of mirror neurons has been found in the premotor cortex, the supplementary motor area, the primary somatosensory cortex and the inferior parietal cortex.