Intentional Family

I was assigned this book for an outdoor recreation class. "The family that plays together, stays together." The book intertwined concisely-explained theories with practical concepts to provide both an interesting read and inspiration about the routines and traditions in real life. Highly recommended.

I like Doherety because he seems to write about things we all should know about marriage and family but have forgotten or been lulled to sleep by our fast paced commercial life style. His notion of the Intentional marriage is a home run.

I read this book when it first came out in hard cover. Since then I have used it as a text book in a family resource management class I teach at a university (because family resources are not limited to money and "things").Doherty has done a super job of translating what he knows as a family professional to the language of typical readers interested in improving family life. I believe every family should read this to reinforce the notion that material possessions don't make a great family. Actively attending to interpersonal relationships is the key to family success!

William Doherty provides an opportunity to reflect on the state of your relationship with your spouse and your children and he provides ideas to bring the family together. He is non-judgemental in his approach and is not an idealist, rather, he knows that people are busy and that it takes work (and some failure) to produce a family of meaning, love and togetherness. We have found this to be a very useful text for conversations with each other and with other couples.

This is one of those rare psychology books related to family life that is eminently practical as well as theoretical. Dr. William Doherty does a fantastic job of blending a fairly simple, almost obvious, psychological concepts with ideas and suggestions you can actually use immediately in your daily life. I was never submerged in theory but had enough to appreciate the thought behind the suggestions. I was both inspired and challenged by what I read. If you work with or care about families and children I recommend you read this book. Thoughtful readers will be changed by what they read.