This paper presents a multi-level framework and road map to guide the therapeutic process. Starting with the couple's reactive pattern, the multi-level approach first orients the therapist on how to create a "holding environment." It then suggests how the therapist, in collaboration with the couple, can proceed to explore interactional, sociocultural/ organizational, intrapsychic, and intergene...

Vulnerability factors such as insecure attachment may have a lasting effect on the outcome of couples therapy, even long after discharge from treatment. Given that attachment has never been examined as an outcome predictor for couples therapy in the long term, the authors studied its effect on outcome during and after couples therapy. This prospective study included 71 inpatients participating ...

introduction: to examine the effects of opium dependence and cigarette smoking on semen quality and sperm parameters, the semen quality of men who abuse opiates and/or smoke cigarettes was investigated in a retrospective study. methods: male partners of 1325 infertile couples attending the infertility clinic for intrauterine insemination (iui) procedure were divided into non-smoking non-opium (...

OBJECTIVE Men's heavy drinking has been established as a risk factor for their perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV); however, the role of women's drinking in their perpetration of IPV is less clear. The current study examined the relative strength of husbands' and wives' alcohol use and alcohol dependence symptoms on the occurrence and frequency of husbands' and wives' IPV perpetrati...

Research of positive psychology interventions (PPIs) has expanded dramatically in recent years, and many novel PPIs may be useful in couples therapy. The present work identifies, summarizes, and suggests adaptations of PPIs that may improve couples therapy outcomes. Each intervention is presented as part of a larger organizational framework that may help couples therapists determine how and whe...

This article identifies and operationalizes the newly defined construct of attachment injury. An attachment injury occurs when one partner violates the expectation that the other will offer comfort and caring in times of danger or distress. This incident becomes a clinically recurring theme and creates an impasse that blocks relationship repair in couples therapy. An attachment injury is charac...

Narrative reviews conclude that behavioral couples therapy (BCT) produces better outcomes than individual-based treatment for alcoholism and drug abuse problems (e.g., [Epstein, E. E., & McCrady, B. S. (1998). Behavioral couples treatment of alcohol and drug use disorders: Current status and innovations. Clinical Psychology Review, 18(6), 689-711; O'Farrell, T. J., & Fals-Stewart, W. (2003). Al...

Dementia research has frequently documented high rates of caregiver depression and distress in spouses providing care for a partner suffering from dementia. However, the role of marital communication in understanding caregiver distress has not been examined sufficiently. Studies with healthy couples demonstrated an association between marital communication and the partners' psychological well-b...

Much of the empirical data available about therapeutic alliance and its relationship to termination status come from individual psychotherapies. We know less about therapeutic alliance in couple therapy. A unique characteristic of alliance in couple or family therapy is the possibility of discrepancies in alliance between system members. In this study we sought to demonstrate three statistical ...