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Are you looking for a committed relationship but  you wonder why they never last? There's one thing you should know: before you create a happy successful relationship you need to become your best self, as Dr. Aliza Israel and Avrum Nadigel show in their new book, Love Starts Here (November 2016). Why did they write this book?

Meet the Authors:

Avrum Nadigel is a marriage-and-family therapist, and author of Learning to Commit: The best time to work on your marriage is when you're single. He holds a Masters of Social Work from McGill University, a Bachelors of Commerce from Concordia University, and post-graduate training in Bowen Theory from the Western Pennsylvania Family Center. Avrum Nadigel has been a therapist in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver for more than 15 years. His approach combines family systems, psycho-dynamics and mindfulness perspectives.

Dr. Aliza Israel Dr. Aliza Israel

Dr. Aliza Israel is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Women's College Hospital, and lecturer at the University of Toronto in child psychiatry and women's mental health. Her work focuses on the interplay between parental and child mental health, and in promoting resilience in young families. Dr. Israel lives in Toronto with her husband Avrum and their two children. She is also an amateur juggler who may or may not secretly wish to run away with the circus.

Aliza and Avrum, tell us about your book.

It’s a workbook about creating better relationships. It take readers, step by step, through a comprehensive exploration of who they are and where they come from, as it helps them to develop what they need to find their best match and built a great relationship.

Why did you write The Workbook?

Not everyone wants, or can afford, therapy. This workbook is our attempt to recreate the process of learning to commit, as we experienced it ourselves, and as we both walk through it with clients in our consulting offices. We have tried to offer the reader, in workbook form, the same tools that hundreds of our clients have used to overcome challenging circumstances and establish deeply loving and lasting relationships.

Who should read it?

Avrum Nadigel Avrum Nadigel

Anyone, single or in a relationship, who’s feeling discouraged, unsure, anxious or jaded about commitment and/or marriage. Anyone who wants a better marriage than what they see out there. Also, clergy and/or therapists who do pre-marital counseling.

Is this your first book? What else have you written? 

It's Aliza's first book. For Avrum, Love Starts Here is the second book. His first book is entitled: Learning to commit: The best time to work on your marriage is when you’re single.

What were the fun, overwhelming or otherwise memorable moments while working on your book?

Good question! It was an interesting process for a number of reasons:
A few weeks after signing our contract with SCP, we found out we were moving, 30 days after our deadline to submit our manuscript to SCP. Fun times!

Fun times… challenges… in the midst of writing this book, and house-hunting, we were sending files back and forth, sometimes hourly, as well as grocery lists, etc. There were moments of frustration for sure. We’d never taken on this sort of a project together before. We survived it, which only goes to show you that the ideas and exercises in the book work!

Many writers are also readers. What are you top three reads of all times?

Within this genre (Relationship/therapy books):
Passionate Marriage by David Schnarch
The Dance of Intimacy by Harriet Lerner
Family Therapy in Clinical Practice by Murray Bowen

Are you thinking of writing another book?

There have been discussions about repurposing the material from this workbook for high school students, as well as parents.

Love Starts Here can be preordered on Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Chapters Indigo, and Barnes & Noble. Avrum Nadigel's first book, Learning to Commit, is available through Self-Counsel Press, Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Chapters Indigo, Barnes & Noble, and in your local bookstores.