ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the components of lasting, long-term relationships; authentic, generative connection as opposed to a sort of coalition of misery - the uneasy, frantic shifting for balance being described as ‘co-dependency’. It presents an interview between Sheldon Starr and Virginia Satir, made in 1985. The choice of permanence in relationship has a different meaning in the modern times in which certain kinds of choice have been extended from the days in which people rarely ventured more than thirty miles from their homes. Living with the same 200 to 300 family groups day in and day out as was the case in the agrarian society of a few generations ago. The book have access to the information about what makes coupling work, what makes families thrive, what makes it possible for group members to resolve differences without killing each other.
