Love is the very essence of life, and the absence of a loved and loving one produces an inconsolable feeling of loss. Yet love can elicit many different reactions. Those that love has hurt may regard it with suspicion. Then there are those who run away from it, because they fear abandonment, or because they fail to recognise love when they see it. And there are those who drive love away, out of awkwardness or poor self-esteem.

But there is a way out of this emotional desert — and that is love's great secret. In this book, readers learn how to escape from blocked situations by opening up to others, how to change the way they regard their past experiences, and to recognise love when it is before them.

S. Angel and S. Clerget provide an in-depth analysis of the obstacles and baggage that keep us imprisoned in our past histories and our lost loves; they also show how to use pain as leverage to bounce back, how to create the inner conditions to improve the chances of meeting someone new, and how to make the most of situations when they come up.

The authors show that if we stop harking back to the past and learn to overcome the fear of getting hurt we will be able to rediscover the movement and energy that is life itself.

“Dozens of little exercises to be practised daily to help salve the wounds of love and to find a new love partner with full awareness…and self-awareness.” Psychologies magazine

Sylvie Angel is a psychiatrist, systemicist and psychoanalyst. She is the author of Ah, quelle famille!, Décrochez!, Bien choisir le mode de garde, Des frères et des soeurs and Comment bien choisir son psy. She is the co-author, with A. Naouri and P. Gutton, of Les mères juives n'existent pas.

Stéphane Clerget is a psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He is the author of Ne sois pas triste mon enfant, Adolescents, la crise nécessaire, Nos enfants aussi ont un sexe, Ils n'ont d'yeux que pour elle, Séparons-nous mais protégeons les enfants and Elever un garçon aujourd'hui.