Over the last fifty years this traditional model has been evolving into the companionship marriage. Here fixed roles are de-emphasized, as both partners usually work outside the home. Husband and wife both pitch in to get household jobs done and parenting children is more of a shared responsibility. What counts most in companionship marriage is the quality of a couple's togetherness, the degree to which they can create a mutually satisfying emotional and sexual relationship. To meet this expectation couples devote much of their attention to how they interact.
Great importance is placed on learning to communicate, fight fair, and negotiate conflicts.
Too often, however, the sexual component takes center stage and leads to an overemphasis on methods, techniques, and performance. In the companionship-marriage couples learn to be more expressive and less antagonistic, but when they stop there they sometimes end up feeling discontented and yearn for a deeper kind of togetherness. A vibrant, alive marriage has to be more than just problem free. Good health is much more than the absence of illness. It includes all the benefits of optimum functioning, a zest for living, and the harmony of body, mind, and spirit working together as a unified whole.