We have been receiving many requests to review books and programs as this site gains in popularity, and one of those that has come across our desk is from Mort Fertel  and his Marriage Fitness program.

Mort Fertel is an authority on the psychology of relationships and has an international reputation for saving marriages. He has been a featured expert on ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, and the Fox News Network, and is also a frequent guest on talk radio programs.

Mort’s  Marriage Fitness program has been around a long time, so Linda and I signed up for the free newsletter which also offered a link to some free marriage assessments. “OK, we’ll give it a try” we thought, then we proceeded to answer a few questions about how we prioritize our relationships with each other, etc.  We knew where it was headed, but this assessment was very useful because we saw ways that we could improve while we were taking it. He also had assessments on fidelity, knowledge of your spouse, giving patterns, and decision making. All are very useful tools that helped us look more objectively at our relationship, especially in light of the situation we have been going through the last several months. So it was well worth the time and effort.

The free newsletter is full of useful information

The newsletter continued to have some very well thought out, useful material which we continued receiving for some time.  And you never get any hard-nosed sales pitch or anything like that, which is great.  He does of course offer some programs for sale on his site, but we’re always a little skeptical when it comes to the “Save Your Marriage” programs that are out there, and we don’t want to just recommend anything that’s not worth a darn. We also had a false preconceived notion that this program would only be something for couples near the brink of divorce, the really tough cases.  So we asked Mort (an employee I’m sure) to send us a copy of his program, and he did.

We were proved wrong. We were immediately surprised at some of the really good advice to improve our relationship. The thing we remember most clearly was that his advice was full of really basic things that we should all be doing to maintain good relationships with our spouse; yet at the same time, they are the things we sometimes forget to do. These things can lead to unfortunate situations down the road if not applied.

There are also programs for folks who are in crisis mode whose marriages are on the brink.  They are offered for use by either one spouse or as a couple.  Keep in mind that these are “programs” which generally provide a process for one to follow to be effective.  They are not magic cure-alls for someone who is not willing to work or put forth any honest effort.  So if your relationship is in desperate need of help, these programs might be the way to go. But don’t take our word for it.

To get started you’ll want to sign up for the free newsletter which will touch on the following subjects among others:

• I love you but I’m not IN LOVE with you.” An analysis and a solution.
• How to change your marriage even when your spouse doesn’t want to.
• How to get your spouse to change.
• How to forgive and be forgiven.
• How do you know when to quit?
• Analysis Paralysis: How to unstuck your marriage
• How to end a separation.
• How to stop a divorce.
• How to end an affair and reconnect at home.
• How to heal your spouse’s hurt and get them to give you another chance.
• How to talk so your spouse listens and listen so your spouse talks.
• How to get over your past (and past your hurt)
• How to protect your children from your marriage problems
• How to know if your marriage will survive.
• How to increase your marriage IQ.
• How to get your spouse to STOP.
• How to restore honor and dignity to your relationship
• How to heal old wounds in your marriage
• How to say “I’m sorry.”

You get all this information for free and more, plus 5 relationship profile assessments.

Lots of stuff included that’s for sure, so go to his website: MarriageMax.com, and sign up for his free newsletter to decide for yourself. We think Mort has a good thing going on here; it should be helpful for a lot of marriages.

Best wishes as always,

Doug & Linda

PS: If there are any books or programs out there that you’ve been wondering if they worth shelling out money for, let us know and we can check them out for you.  Believe us when we tell you that we have read, reviewed or purchased most of them over the last several months while trying to save our marriage.  If we haven’t, we’ll get a copy and review it for you.

Related posts:

1. How to Save Your Marriage
2. What NOT to Do to Save Your Marriage
3. Save Your Marriage: Building Fences Around Your Relationship