Renewing Your Relationship: 5 Necessary Steps Renewing Your Relationship: 5 Necessary Steps is a practical, easy-to-read workbook for couples interested in working together on their relationship as well as individuals attempting to understand their most intimate connections. In fact, couples therapists David Olsen and Erin Belanger-Freeh base Renewing Your Relationship in the most fundamental component of relationships: the self. Step one is changing oneself and one's role in a relationship. This guide is a summary of the techniques and principles Olsen and Belanger-Freeh use in their sessions with couples and individuals seeking to increase intimacy and break counterproductive patterns. Drawing heavily on the principles of Bowen Family systems theory, the therapists encourage readers to identify and change interactional patterns that block intimacy and satisfaction, such as pursue-distance or over/under-responsible patterns. By the end of the book, readers are able to use the powerful concept of differentiation to see real change in their love lives.