Theory Critique: Cloud and Townsend

Theory Critique: Cloud and Townsend
Sam and Diane have been married for a few years now and, everything was so perfect in the beginning. There was nothing but plenty of love and romance. Even still, Sam had become more and more demanding of his wife until at a certain point he began demanding robotic perfection of his spouse. It took a few years, but Diane became more and more fed up. She became more and more hypersensitive and hyper-vigilant to anything that Sam said to her so that now, even the slightest criticism would enrage her against Sam which would cause her to remain angered for 24 hours at a time. However, she could not help herself. Her nerves were at their end and did not know any …show more content…

It is to learn about and follow the Ten Laws of Boundaries (of marriage). Just as disobeying the Ten Commandments of God will sow and reap misery, so will violating any of the Ten

Laws of Boundaries.
Cloud and Townsend, (1999) point out that the primary ingredient of marriage is love. Love that needs to be grown and cared for as one would for a treasure. It is at the heart of marriage as it is at the heart of God. The other vital components that hold together love are care, need, companionship, and the values of the couple. Combining these together creates a synergistic effect that can overcome hurt, immaturity, and selfishness. Yet, it takes more. By adding in freedom, two people are free to disagree without fear and are therefore free to love, and by adding responsibility for their actions, attitudes, choices limits, and feelings, a couple can attain an empowerment that will lessen individual struggles and help the marriage to grow stronger.

Strengths and Weaknesses
Cloud and Townsend (1999), like Wilson write a book that should, like Hurt People Hurt People probably be required reading for marriage. Unfortunately there is no reading requirement for becoming parents or entering marriage. I therefore feel that this book will be suggested reading should I ever do any marriage counseling. Even if a client like Diane merely read the introduction, the first chapter, and understood the Ten Laws of Boundaries, she would have had an excellent start at how