Yours, Mine and Ours: Therapy integrating relationship and individual needs TAMARA GOLDMAN SHER, PH.D. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

Differences between couple work and individual work  People in the room  Trust  Confidentiality  Pace

Couples and Assessment 3 main parts for me  Couple history  Individual history  Behavioral sample

Couples and CBT (CBCT)  Behavioral activation  Skills training  Themes discussion  Cognitive distortion issues

Couples and Illness Nearly all of us will be or will have been married or in a committed relationship That means almost all of us will be either the patient or the partner of a patient at some point The divorce rate among the chronically ill is over 75 percent

Three Main Ways to Intervene with Couples around Relationship and Health Issues  Partner Assisted  Disease Specific  Relationship Focus

Stressors For patient ◦Feelings of abandonment ◦Increased sense of interdependence For partner ◦Blame ◦Guilt ◦Change ◦What about me? For couple ◦Reduction of life space ◦Role shifts ◦Communication problems ◦Hostility