This new take on relationships changes everything By examining the seven desires we all share, Mark and amp; Debra Laaser illustrate how men and women are actually more alike than different. Do you long for ways to Tune in more closely to your children? Connect on a deeper level with your spouse? Strengthen friendships? Reach a fuller relationship with God? The Laasers look past what separates us to examine what connects us. Instead of focusing on how to sidestep or compensate for perceived differences, they dig deeper, to the core of our souls, to examine how the basic needs of all people make us more alike than different. The Seven Desires of Every Heart explores the common desires God has given us ---to be heard, affirmed, blessed, safe, touched, chosen, and included. Using stories, biblical references, and sound psychological principles, the Laasers explain each desire and show us how we seek it and what it feels like to have it truly fulfilled. You will learn healthy ways to embody these desires in your relationships and be given the tools you need to start repairing and rebuilding relationships and developing new skills for creating emotional and spiritual intimacy.

“The greatest enemy of sexual wholeness today,” asserts Mark Laaser, Ph.D., “is silence.” A therapist specializing in the field of sexual health, Dr. Laaser has worked with hundreds of adults who suffer the consequences of sexual sin and dysfunction. All of them long to have had meaningful conversations with their parents about sex when they were growing up.

Most parents would agree that healthy sexuality should be taught at home rather than left to their children’s teachers, peers, or culture. However, even parents with the best intentions can feel at a loss regarding where to start.

In Talking with Your Kids about Sex, Dr. Laaser cuts through the confusion, coaching you through specific, age-appropriate discussions you can have with your son or daughter from early childhood through young adulthood; giving guidance on how to explore and examine your own sexual beliefs and issues; and empowering you to help your child develop a healthy and biblical understanding of sexuality, a glorious gift from God.

When a couple first comes together, the knee-weakening, heart-stopping, pants-dropping passion exhilarates. But turning that love into an intimate bond comes no more naturally than learning to ride a bicycle or use chopsticks. What we are socialized to assume should be spontaneous and effortless requires patience and learned skills. Worse, should any problems erupt we fear the relationship and ourselves are irrevocably broken. We need help.
Though written by two noted psychologists, Open Hearts is not technical but gentle and uplifting. Patrick Carnes, along with Mark Laaser and Deb Laaser, share how they found their way to joyous and fulfilling intimacy. While these concepts originated in the recovery movement, they can transform any couple seeking renewal or trying to restore a broken relationship.
"Open Hearts" starts with basic truths:
- We can only work on a relationship when we're in that relationship. Running away never solved anything
- If we have not resolved childhood developmental issues, we will seek out partners we think will resolve them
- It's perfectly healthy to fight. We just have to learn to do it better.
- As partners w'ere often stuck in "coupleshame." However, working through it leads to true intimacy
"Open Hearts" is a book a couple reads together. It takes techniques that Carnes and the Laasers developed in their psychotherapy practices and weaves them into a series of individual and joint exercises. It looks at tough issues: shame, anger, money, betrayal, sex, parenting. It encourages fun: drawing up a family motto, expressing spirituality together, taking gentleness breaks. It works.
"Open Hearts" addresses coupleship to show how a relationship, no matter how imperfect or new, can be transformed and restored to loving intimacy.

Mark has eloquently unraveled the mystery behind addictive behavior: when our relationships are not alive and growing, the temptation for various kinds of addictions is unleashed.. ---Dr. Gary Smalley With today s rampant availability of Internet pornography, sexual addiction has become a national epidemic that affects up to 10 percent of Christians. As devastating as any drug habit, it brings heartbreak and despair to those it entangles. But there is help for men and women caught in sexual addiction s downward spiral. This book offers a path that leads beyond compulsive thoughts and behaviors to healing and transformation. Sensitive to the shame of sexual addiction without minimizing its sinfulness, Dr. Mark Laaser traces the roots of the problem, discusses its patterns and impact, and maps out a biblical approach to self-control and sexual integrity. Previously titled Faithful and True, this revision includes an all-new section that deals with sexual addiction in the church. Other important changes reflect cultural trends, incorporate current research, and place a greater emphasis on spiritual growth. This book also addresses the unique needs and issues of female sex addicts. Whether you know someone with a sexual addiction or struggle yourself, Healing the Wounds of Sexual Addiction points the way to understanding, wholeness, and holiness."

In this book Marnie C. Ferree offers a unique resource for women struggling with sexual addiction. Taking her book's title from the parable where Jesus extends grace to the woman caught in adultery, Ferree bravely shares her own story of sexual addiction, recalling her years of shame from living a double life and the moment when she ultimately had to tell the truth. But more than just offering her story as a hopeful example of God's transforming power, Ferree distills her clinical expertise on female sexual addiction accessibly and gently, providing a much-needed resource for women struggling with any degree of relational or sexual addiction. Ferree details the roots of addiction in family trauma and offers clear-eyed advice as both a counselor and a "grateful recovering sex addict" on how to achieve sobriety and healing. Written by a counselor who understands the condition from the inside out, No Stones offers practical help for those battling sexual addiction. It also includes a specific chapter for anyone in close relationship with an addict, whether a spouse, family member, or friend, who wants to come alongside women as they seek help. Important for pastors and church leaders, this book will also be a much sought-after resource for Christian counselors and therapists counseling women who grapple with this type of addiction.

SPANISH EDITION. In this instructive and inspirational book, Mark and Debra Laaser teach us how to have richer relationships with God and others. Using stories and straightforward observations, they examine seven desires we all share, and illustrate how understanding those desires can enhance our relationships and enrich our lives.

Este libro ofrece una senda que conduce mas alla de los pensamientos y conductas compulsivas para ofrecer sanidad y transformacion. El autor llega hasta las raices del problema, discute sus patrones e impacto, y esboza un enfoque biblico del autocontrol y la integridad sexual. Incluye una seccion sobre el problema de la adiccion sexual en la iglesia, las tendencias culturales y la investigacion actual, dando un mayor enfasis al crecimiento espiritual y refiriendose tambien a las singular necesidades y situaciones de las mujeres adictas al sexo."