Love Sense Insights

The must-read analysis of the key insights from "Love Sense" by Sue Johnson — presented by Athena.

Love — why it happens, why it vanishes — can seem like a mystery, but once you understand the science of attachment, not only is a committed relationship possible, it is also essential to your happiness and well-being.

Are humans meant to be monogamous? Dr. Sue Johnson argues that love is indeed an inherent need. She also explains how to develop your own "love sense" that will change how you think about love.

As a clinical psychologist and couples therapist for more than 30 years, Dr. Sue Johnson has devoted her life to understanding the science and practice of human relationships. Her conclusion? “A stable, loving relationship is the absolute cornerstone of human happiness and general well-being.” What’s more, from a scientific perspective, she believes that love is “exquisitely logical and understandable.” Simply put, love makes sense.

In Love Sense, Johnson introduces her new approach to marriage counseling called Emotionally Focused Therapy, which, despite its name, is a rigorous and scientific way to analyze romance. We learn that the brain circuitry for attachment evolved millions of years ago, and attachment lives deep in our brains’ pathways. Armed with science, Johnson explains why humans love while emphasizing how important it is to understand how love works. That’s because when we know more about how something works, Johnson writes, it’s easier to fix it when it breaks.