Book excerpt: Are you tired of casual relationships and playing 'the game'? Do you want to settle down, but can't seem to be able to find the right person? Have you just come out of a long-term relationship, or had your heart badly broken? Do you worry that nobody will love you again? If any of this sounds familiar, you may have fallen into the Single Trap. You are not alone. For the first time ever, the number of single-person households in the UK is about to outnumber those with families. In this ground-breaking book, marital therapist Andrew G. Marshall diagnoses the underlying social trends and sets out his two-step guide to freeing yourself from the trap and finding lasting love. He explains: - The defences that stop us getting hurt but also serve as barriers to potential new relationships - How like attracts like, and how to work on balancing yourself to bring similarly balanced people into your life - New ways to search for a partner that encourage an open mind and more fulfilling emotional connections - How to tell if you and your new man or woman have the makings of a successful long-term partnership Marshall has spent nearly twenty-five years helping people untangle their love lives, communicate better and find true happiness. In this practical and thought-provoking book, he combines the latest research into relationships with years of counselling experience to design a programme that works.