1. CHAPTER 8: Couple and Marriage Therapy and Enrichment
Family Therapy: History, Theory, and Practice
6th Edition
Samuel T. Gladding
Developed by Nathaniel N. Ivers, Wake Forest University
© (2015, 2011, 2007) by Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved

2. Overview Approaches to Treating Couples and Marriages
Preventive Approaches to Working with Couples
Marriage and Couples Therapies
Infidelity
Divorce Therapy

3. Types of Couple and Marriage Treatments
Couple Therapy
Marriage Therapy
Premarital Counseling

4. Preventative Approaches to Working with Couples
Universal Prevention
Selective Prevention
Indicated prevention

5. Major Theorists in Marriage Preparation and Couple Enrichment
David and Vera Mace
Pioneers in the preparatory and prevention programs on marriage enrichment
Founded the Association for Couples in Marriage Enrichment (ACME)
John Gottman
Executive Director of the Relationship Institute
Author of The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work and And Baby Makes Three, among many other publications.

6. Major Theories for Prevention
Marriage and Relationship Education
Marriage Enrichment
Marriage Encounter Program
PREPARE / ENRICH
TIME
PREP
Couple Communication Program
SANCTUS
Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills (PAIRS)

7. Marriage and Couple Therapy
Major Theorists
Therapeutic Approaches to Working with Couples

8. Marriage and Couple Therapy: Major Theorists
Susan Johnson
Frank Dattilio
Albert Ellis
Robert Liberman
Richard Stuart

9. Marriage and Couple Therapy: Specific Therapies
Behavioral Couple Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Couple Therapy
Emotionally Focused Therapy

10. Behavioral Couple Therapy: Treatment Techniques
Operant conditioning
Social Learning Theory
Communications Theory
Contingency Contracting
Caring Days (positive risk)

11. Behavioral Couple Therapy: Process and Outcome
Behavioral analysis
Positive reciprocity
Communication skills training (“I” statements)
Problem solving

12. Behavioral Couple Therapy: Unique Aspects
One of the best-researched forms of working with couples (Shadish & Baldwin, 2005)
Provides structure to young couples and a way of negotiating conflicts
Efficacious at reducing alcohol abuse and marital distress

13. Cognitive Behavioral Couple Therapy (CBCT)
A combination of psychodynamic, cognitive/behavioral, and humanistic principles
First proposed by Ellis (1977) and Beck (1976)
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT)
Techniques
ABC Procedure
Cognitive distraction
Self-control strategies
Relapse prevention
Psychoeducation

14. Emotionally Focused Therapy
Experiential-humanistic, systemic intervention to therapy (Greenman & Johnson, 2013)
Focuses on intrapsychic processes and interpersonal processes
Roots based in attachment theory
Aims to foster the development of more-secure attachment styles in couples
Conceptualizes emotions as a catalyst for change
Seeks to establish secure attachment bonds

15. Emotionally Focused Therapy
Intervention techniques are both experiential and structural
Focused on helping clients reduce fighting and escalating fights when experiencing attachment panic
Techniques concentrate on disclosure of feelings
Emphasizes releasing emotions, increasing self-awareness, and enhancing empathy
Uses enactments as its principal way of helping couples make changes.

16. Emotionally Focused Therapy: Role of the Therapist
Provide a safe environment for the release of positive and negative feelings
Encourage emotional expression and protect the couple as individuals and partners

17. Emotionally Focused Therapy: Process and Outcome
Three stage interaction process with nine steps
Stage 1: Cycle deescalation
Steps 1 – 4: uncovering of negative or hard feelings that are buried beneath defense expressions
Stage 2: Restructuring interactional positions
Steps 5 – 7: Intrapsychic processes of attachment explored, among other things
Stage 3: Consolidation and integration of therapeutic gains

18. Infidelity
Defined in a variety of ways and comprises a number of activities (e.g., having an affair)
Can be traditional (face to face) or internet based
Dramatically disrupts partners’ assumptions about themselves and their relationship
Common in American society, with as many as 25% to 50% of men and 10% to 25% of women participating in extramarital sex at some point in their lifetime (Wilkinson, Littlebear, & Reed, 2012)

19. Approaches for Treating Infidelity
Snyder, Baucom, and Gordon’s (2008) Model
Deal with the initial impact
Explore context and find meaning
Move on

20. Divorce Therapy Goals: Accept the end of the marriage
Achieve a functional postdivorce relationship
Achieve a reasonable emotional adjustment and find emotional support
Cope with religious and spiritual angst
Realize the part one played in the dissolution of the marriage
Help the children from the marriage adjust to the lost, if applicable
Use the crisis of the divorce as an opportunity to learn about oneself and grow
Negotiate a reasonably equitable legal settlement
Develop healthy habits

21. Family Mediation
Process of helping couples and families settle disputes or dissolve their marriages in a nonadversarial way
Often used as an alternative to court action
Less time consuming than divorce proceedings

22. Collaborative Divorce
Collaborative attorneys support their respective clients in negotiating a settlement in four-person meetings
Other professionals also meet with clients.
Coaches, for example help to determine clients’ readiness for and commitment to the collaborative process.