When we quit sabotaging intimacy in our relationships by demanding unconditional love, we discover something much greater-the deeply satisfying, transformational love that is companionship.
In these pages psychologist Kelly Flanagan shows how each of us has within ourselves, exactly the way we are, the gifts that are needed to cultivate the life-long relationships we are longing for, whether it is within marriage or friendship. He shows us how self-knowledge leads the way to growing in love for both God and others. He shows us how understanding our own loneliness can help us relieve the pressure on our companions. And he shows us how understanding our own psychological and emotional defenses can help us to make the choice to love more vulnerably.
More than a marriage book, this is a companionship book. Anyone-from single young adults to elderly married couples, from the divorced to the widowed, from siblings to friends-can benefit from the wisdom it uncovers about what it means to be human and to be true companions.
Groups, couples, and individuals can use the companion study guide for five sessions on how to show up in your most important relationships.
Industry Reviews
"Though we often do whatever it takes to avoid feelings of loneliness, in these pages Dr. Kelly Flanagan invites readers to do something else-make friends with our loneliness, attend to it, and even welcome loneliness as a gift. Flanagan is a guide for the isolated soul, showing us that our agonizing longings for deep companionship are actually graces-signposts pointing us toward deeper connection, love, and holiness. And along the way, we discover this gentlest of miracles: we are, none of us, truly alone." -- Aubrey Sampson, church planter and author of The Louder Song: Listening for Hope in the Midst of Lament
"In True Companions, Kelly Flanagan grapples with the joys and risks of genuine connection. With sincerity, wisdom, and deft storytelling, Flanagan dares readers to become more human. In an increasingly inhumane world, his is a dare worth taking." -- Katherine Willis Pershey, author of Very Married: Field Notes on Love and Fidelity
"I know this book will touch many lives. Kelly Flanagan has harvested the rich rewards of true companionship from the everyday struggles of doing real life together-a gift to every couple and every kind of companion everywhere." -- Bob Goff, author of Love Does and Dream Big
"What Kelly does for all of us in this deep dive into being-in-relation is help us unearth those deeply buried conditions we've been loading onto what we think we've been asking for or offering as 'unconditional love.' Then, therapist that he is, Dr. Flanagan invites us to put down the mallet and befriend our loneliness, shame, and abandonment. . . . Kelly charts a path of waking up so we can show up as our best selves in our most important relationships. . . . I'm so glad to commend True Companions to you." -- Ian Morgan Cron, author of The Road Back to You, from the foreword
"He had me at the table of contents. I went there first to decide if I was going to read the book. Weary of reading marriage books that seemed too lofty or talked about having a date night, I long ago moved on to books of poetry and novels, which have actually helped my marriage. But when I felt a tug at my heart just by reading the descriptions of the chapters in True Companions, I knew this book would be different. If you want a wise, honest, and true friend to take a walk with you, Kelly is that friend. And on that walk, he will open your heart to new truths and new questions, and gently lead you down an unexpected path toward change in yourself and your relationship with the one you love. Please take this journey with him. Kelly is a trustworthy guide." -- Al Andrews, founder and executive director of Porter's Call
![A Return to Love : Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles [Thorsons Classics edition] - Marianne Williamson](https://www.booktopia.com.au/covers/200/9780722532997/null/a-return-to-love.jpg)
