Can Love Last?

What it is about

Can Love Last? is psychoanalyst Stephen Mitchell’s argument that safety and desire sit in tension inside a long attachment. Familiarity can quiet erotic charge even as it deepens trust; idealisation and disappointment cycle through adult love. Mitchell writes as theory and clinical reflection, not as a set of bedroom drills or a guarantee that romance must fade. The book is for readers who want to think about why passion and security pull in different directions, not for readers seeking a quick technique to restore heat.

Questions it can answer

• Why can safety and desire pull in opposite directions in a long attachment?
• How does Mitchell describe idealisation and disappointment in adult love?
• How is this psychoanalytic account different from a technique manual for desire?

What you will not find

• Step-by-step sexual exercises or schedules
• A claim that lasting love must be passionless
• A safety plan for abuse or coercive control