Divorce buster

Four Americans who exemplify traditional American values will be recognized Thursday when the Founding Spirit Awards are presented at The Washington Times’ 25th anniversary gala at the National Building Museum.

“The Washington Times champions the principles of America’s Founding and the traditional values that allow our society to flourish — freedom, family, faith, and service,” said Tom McDevitt, president of The Times. “We have therefore established the Founding Spirit Awards program to recognize people who are living their lives for the sake of others.”

This is the second in a series of four profiles of the recipients of the Founding Spirit Awards.

“I love you, but I’m not in love with you anymore.”

“We got married for all the wrong reasons.”

“I’m not attracted to you anymore.”

“Why can’t you admit that we just made a mistake?”

“I never really loved you in the first place.”

“It’s time to tell the kids it’s over.”

“Does any of this sound familiar? If so, my heart goes out to you,” Michele Weiner-Davis writes in her 2001 book, “The Divorce Remedy: The Proven 7-Step Program for Saving Your Marriage.”

But Mrs. Weiner-Davis, who will receive The Washington Times’ Founding Spirit Award at the newspaper’s 25th anniversary gala Thursday, is not ready to let statements like these be a marital death sentence for couples.

Mrs. Weiner-Davis is into combating divorce: She has written six books, three of which are about saving marriages — including “sex-starved” ones — and counseled thousands of distressed couples.

Her core message is that even the most damaged marriages often can be revitalized and there are solution-oriented strategies to recover from severe problems such as infidelity, Internet obsessions, depression, sexual problems and midlife crises.

The vast majority of troubled marriages can become happy, says Mrs. Weiner-Davis, married for 30 years. Although not every marriage can or should be saved, she says, as many as 80 percent to 85 percent of the people she sees “are able to turn it around.”

“In my mind,” she says, “all problems are solvable until proven otherwise.”

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