Useful Pain:
Why Your Relationships Need Struggle
In Steve’s last book, Team Clock: A Guide to Breakthrough Teams, he provided a simple model for creating and sustaining effective teams. As he shared the Team Clock concept with individuals, educators, small business owners, and Fortune 500 companies, time and again people asked how these principles applied to interpersonal relationships. Could the conflict resolution and team building strategies applied in the boardroom also work in the bedroom? Does the cycle of distancing and trust play out between couples and management teams alike?
The answer is, “Yes!” This is a book about discovering the opportunities that unfold as relationships mature. In this book, you will learn about the nature of healthy relationships. You will be encouraged to assess the strengths and vulnerabilities of the connections in your life. You will be introduced to a way to evolve – to enhance intimacy and guide your relationships in a healthy direction. Most importantly, you will be invited to follow your opportunities and embrace your challenges as a roadmap to more effective relationships.
When you have finished reading this book, you are invited to participate in an exercise. The Interpersonal Assessment provides a Card Sort to measure the health of your relationship and an Action Workbook to help steer the conversations that will strengthen your connection. Carve out some time to sit down with the most important people in your life and take ownership of the wellness and direction of each relationship. Move your connections forward.
About the Author
Steve Ritter, LCSW
is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Executive Director of Elmhurst Counseling. He is on the faculty of the Center for Professional Excellence at Elmhurst University where he earned the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. His unique blend of training in the worlds of human resources, organizational development and psychology inspired the creation of the Team Clock® methodology, an approach that harnesses relationship cycles to empower growth in teams. Earning a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from DePauw University and a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Loyola University of Chicago, Steve has researched the principles behind effective teams for over three decades and is the acclaimed author of Amazon Top-50 Business Book, Team Clock: A Guide to Breakthrough Teams, Useful Pain: Why Your Relationships Need Struggle, The Interpersonal Assessment Action Workbook and The 4 Stages of a Team: How Teams Thrive and What to Do When They Don’t.
OUR MISSION
Elmhurst Counseling is a premier therapy, counseling, and coaching firm located in Elmhurst, IL, serving adults, children, families & companies interested in optimizing health. Providing developmental therapies, wellness services, & career counseling, we help clients in Elmhurst, Oakbrook, Hinsdale, Downers Grove, Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, and Chicago communities.