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Nine things, chosen carefully.

We earn a commission on most products listed below. We chose them anyway. The nine products on this page replaced fifty-three. The other forty-four are listed at the bottom under “We won’t recommend.”

01 · Books$16

Mating in Captivity

by Esther Perel

The book that gave us a vocabulary for desire inside long relationships. We require it of every BothWant team member in their first month. We have given away 47 copies to subscribers who emailed us asking why their partner wouldn’t talk about sex.

It is the book about long-term desire.

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02 · Books$15

Come as You Are

by Emily Nagoski

The dual-control model of arousal, explained without making you feel like you’re reading a textbook. Particularly useful for women whose partners have, with the best intentions, asked the wrong questions for many years.

Read this if your partner says “I don’t know what I want.”

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03 · Books$15

Hold Me Tight

by Sue Johnson

EFT for couples, in plain language. The seven conversations are a strong scaffold for a couple working without a therapist. The Mating in Captivity / Hold Me Tight pairing — desire and attachment — is the closest thing we have to a complete theory.

The attachment counterpart to Mating in Captivity.

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What we won’t recommend

The 44 things we considered and rejected, summarized.

  • 01

    Couples-counseling apps that promise progress in 7 days.

    Progress is not the unit. Conversation is.

  • 02

    Anything with the word “spice” in the marketing copy.

    Desire is not a seasoning.

  • 03

    Question decks with “intimacy levels” unlocked by points.

    Gamification of vulnerability is a category error.

  • 04

    Books with the word “masculine” or “feminine” in the title.

    Almost always selling something other than what the title implies.

  • 05

    Most weekend retreats over $1,000.

    Save the money. See a therapist for ten sessions instead.