Bennett, Joel B. Time and Intimacy: A New Science of Personal Relationships. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000.

Abstract

There is a mysterious connection between our experiences of intimacy  - of love, the longing to feel connected, and the sexual embrace - and the human sense of time - eternity, impermanence, and rhythm. In this critical analysis of the time-intimacy equation, author Joel B. Bennett shows how the scientific study of personal relationships can address this mystery. As a study of transpersonal science, this book points to the possible evolution of intimacy and of our consciousness of time, and how the two evolutionary paths weave together. Dr. Bennett draws from a wide array of resources to advance and marry two compelling themes: first, the social and clinical science of personal relationships should integrate the spiritual or transpersonal dimension of intimacy, and second, science can contribute to lay understandings by describing the richly temporal aspects of relationships. In blending popular literature, transpersonal psychology, and scientific research and theory, this work also attempts to address the lack of dialogue between academics who study personal intimacy and those writers in the popular press who give advice and guidelines for building intimacy. Time and Intimacy is written for a broad audience, intended for those with a general interest in relationships as well as for students, personal coaches, counselors, and psychologists. It can be used as a text in courses on personal relationships, humanistic psychology, interpersonal communication, marital and family counseling, human relations, as well as in programs that focus on personal evolution, marital/relationship enhancement, and spiritual development. Because it advances an interdisciplinary understanding of personal relationships, this book is certain to challenge prevailing views about the meaning of intimacy in both the academic and popular literatures.