What emerged from the Gottmans' collaboration and decades of research is a body of advice that's based on two surprisingly simple truths: Happily married couples behave like good friends, and they handle their conflicts in gentle, positive ways. The authors offer an intimate look at ten couples who have learned to work through potentially destructive problems--extramarital affairs, workaholism, parenthood adjustments, serious illnesses, lack of intimacy--and examine what they've done to improve communication and get their marriages back on track.