Laura Doyle Pushes 1999 'Surrendered Wife' Formula to Save Marriages

1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 22

Laura Doyle, 59, is again promoting her “Surrendered Wife” approach, which tells women to rescue troubled marriages by changing their own behavior rather than trying to change their husbands.
The method grew out of her account of a marriage “in a ditch,” after which she says she restored intimacy by practicing gratitude, apologizing for “disrespect,” curbing criticism and relinquishing control, including over finances.
Doyle has turned those “intimacy skills” into a long-running business since 1999 through books, blogs, podcasts and an international network of relationship coaches.
The message remains contentious because it asks women to be sexually available, defer more to husbands and, by Doyle’s account, can apply even in marriages involving adultery, addiction or abuse.