The Secrets of Happy Families

"This is a wonderful book. I recommend it to all families as required reading." —Harville Hendrix, Ph.D. author, Getting the Love You Want and Giving the Love That Heals: A Guide for Parents. "This is a beautiful book—timely, passionate, and powerful. It is also so well written, it's a page-turner and you'll find wealth of insight on every page. If you have specific questions about how to make family love last, this book has practical answers." —Michael Gurian author, The Minds of Boys and The Wonder of Girls. "Scott Haltzman's writing is so engaging, it's the kind of book you pick up in a bookstore and find yourself still reading a half hour later. Inspiring and enlightening, it is filled with fascinating facts, educational anecdotes, and wise advice that you will remember, use, and repeat to others, even years from now. Don't miss this outpouring of love from a seasoned writer and psychiatrist." —Susan Page author, Why Talking Is Not Enough and If I'm So Wonderful, Why Am I Still Single?. "Few well-written and easily read books treat us to solid research, a wide range of thoughtful quotes, and the author's real-life experience on perhaps life's most important subject: creating a happy family. This book does it all!" —Warren Farrell, Ph.D. author, Women Can't Hear What Men Don't Say and Why Men Are the Way They Are. "Haltzman's latest entry into the 'advice to families' genre is a gem. Grounded in solid family research and his own survey of families, Haltzman offers sound, practical, and compassionate advice for families. His recognition of the diversity of contemporary families is one of the great strengths of this book. The accessible style is sure to please a wide range of readers from parents to family professionals." —Ross D. Parke, Ph.D. Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Emeritus, University of California, Riverside; and pas

Customer Reviews:

Happy Families Forever

By Lynette R. Fleming "Coauthor of Lunch Buddies... - September 16, 2009

Remember the scene in Robin William's movie, "The Birdcage," during which the right-wing parents of the fiancé of Armand's son are faced with his two mothers ... one biological (a female) and the other the drag-queen companion of his father? "Which one is your mother?" they ask. When many of us think of families, we think of the traditional "Leave it to Beaver" family ... father, mother, and children. But today there are so many other kinds of families ... grandparents raising grandchildren, foster families, adoptive families, same-sex couples, and so on. The great thing about this book is that the advice in it applies to any family, defined by Dr. Haltzman as "two or more people committed to sharing their life together who are related by blood, adoption, marriage or cohabitation, legal decree, or personal devotion."

After defining "family", Dr. Haltzman goes on to define happiness and gives us his eight secrets to the enduring happy family. Secret one, Stick... read more

Great book!

By Jodi E. Deangelis - August 15, 2009

The Secrets of Happy Families is all that it is advertised to be! Dr. Haltzman begins the book by exploring the definition of family, and has an inspiring and educational chapter about happiness (did you know that people that win the lottery don't end up being any happier in life and people who become paralyzed?).

I found Haltzman's division of family happiness into eight "keys" extremely helpful. For instance, on his chapter called "commit and communicate" he talks about the importance of maintaining a stable family for the growth of the child. This seems like common sense, but the fact is that it is politically incorrect to say that people should marry because it's better for children. Other chapters talk about dealing with conflict, step families, values, and resiliency.

What was most impressive about this was Dr. Haltzman's use of humor. He seems to be saying that we should take a families seriously, but not so seriously that we are not able to enjoy all... read more

Valuable lessons for a Happy Family

By Kevin A. Decker "Relationship Author, Educato... - February 26, 2010

As an Author, Coach, and Motivational Speaker I read a lot of books about people, their motivations, and their relationships. "The Secrets of Happy Families" by Dr. Scott Haltzman and Teresa Foy DiGeronimo gets an A+ for writing with clarity and humor, an A for stories that engage the reader, and an A+ for the valuable lessons provided.

Dr. Haltzman begins by setting expectations about what a family is, going way beyond the traditional nuclear family of 2 parents and 2.5 children to include the single parent family, extended family, blended family, adopted family, foster family, etc. Coming from a blended family with a father married 6 times impacting 21 children and having a more traditional family with 2 parents and 2 children I was interested to see what secrets he could share to make my family a happy family.

In chapter 2 Dr. Haltzman defines happiness and identifies a number of circumstances and behaviors that can impact the happiness of families. He ends... read more