A multilevel approach to the assessment of communication positiveness in distressed marital couples

Abstract

Although the improvement of communication tends to be a foremost objective of behavioral marital counseling (Jacobson and Martin, 1976), guidelines by which to define or measure “good communication” are lacking. The development of such guidelines has been hampered by the lack of empirical evidence on: 1. which communication skills contribute to successful marital functioning; 2. who is the best judge of those skills; and 3. what is the most appropriate method for examining communication processes between marital partners.     

Engagement and termination in marital and familial therapy: Special ethical issues

Abstract

This article features an examination of the unique features affecting ethical treatment decisions in the engagement and termination phases of marital and familial therapy.     

Gender: A critical factor in a couples group

Couples group therapy should be considered as a primary treatment for marital couples whose dysfunctional interaction is rigidified and chronic. A gender-linked perspective for treatment is developed which expands a psychodynamic approach underscoring power as one of the central issues in marital conflict. Clinical vignettes from couples groups illustrate this model. A gender orientation facilitates the psychodynamic group process, decreases unrealistic expectations of the spouse, and encourages greater acceptance of male/female and individual differences. In this setting, individuals are able to develop new and more functional modes of interaction with their spouses, which generate an increased sense of empowerment.Excerpts from this paper were presented at the American Family Therapy Association meeting in Montreal, 1988.The authors gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of Henry Grunebaum, M.D., and Fred Sander, M.D.     

Commitment: A variable in women's response to marital therapy

Abstract

The relationship between commitment to one's marriage at the onset of therapy and changes during marital therapy was examined. In a sample of 42 couples seeking marital therapy, wives' commitment level accounted for a significant amount of unique variance in marital satisfaction before therapy and gains in marital satisfaction resulting from therapy. In keeping with earlier findings, results for men were less striking, and often nonsignificant. The importance of considering the variable of commitment in marital research is discussed.     

A Clinical approach to marital problems: Evaluation and management

Abstract

This study reviews two instruments designed to assess marital complaints as related to marital behavior: the Areas of Change Questionnaire (AC) and the Comprehensive Areas of Change Questionnaire (CAC). Although the AC is a reliable measure, it evaluates only 13 of the 29 categories of marital problems (Mead&;Vatcher, 1985) described by Geiss and O'Leary (1981). The CAC was developed to measure all 29 categories. Fifty distressed and 50 nondistressed couples were administered the CAC and the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT: Locke&;Wallace, 1959). The CAC is reliable overall, r=.84 and 20 out of 29 categories are reliable r=.40 or greater. Test-retest reliability was greater than r=.82 for all but one scoring method and for 21 of the 29 categories for all respondents with 2 additional categories stable for men and 2 different categories stable for women. The CAC differentiates distressed from nondistressed couples M=59.96 and 11.74 and individuals M=29.98 and 5.87, respectively. The CAC correlates with the MAT r=? .50 and ? .67 for nondistressed and distressed couples, respectively, when 5 extreme scores were removed from the distressed sample. Clinical utility of the CAC is discussed and further research into the nature of marital complaints is recommended.     

A developmental approach to treating dual-career couples

Abstract

While skills development may help some dual-career couples, for others such methods may result in feelings of frustration until certain developmental difficulties are resolved. This article: 1) addresses some problem areas that dual-career couples encounter; 2) reviews proposed solutions for these problems; 3) specifies the necessary personal requirements for mastering these solutions; and 4) suggests some of the unresolved developmental conflicts that can interfere with such mastery. The list of conflicts, proposed solutions, and typical impeding developmental difficulties is not meant to be exhaustive. Rather, this article is intended to convey a way of conceptualizing “problems surrounding problem solving” for dual-career couples.     

Essay on feminist family therapy: A review ofWomen in families: A framework for family therapy andThe invisible web: Gender patterns in family relationships

Monica McGoldrick, Carol M. Anderson, and Froma Walsh (Eds.). (1989).Women in families: A framework for family therapy. New York: W. W. Norton.     

A rational-emotive theory of marital dysfunction and marital therapy

This article first discusses some rational-emotive perspectives on marital and couples therapy, including what constitutes a good relationship, some important differences between rational-emotive and other couples therapy approaches, and an RET classification of relationship problems. Second, this article also sketches out ways in which social exchange principles can be integrated into rational-emotive couples therapy.This is a revised version of a paper that originally appeared in A. Ellis and M. Bernard's (Eds.) 1985 text,Applications of Rational Emotive Therapy, Plenum Publishing Co., New York.     

The multi-level approach: a road map for couples therapy

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 intergenerational processes that might be fueling the couple's dynamics. Central to this approach is the construct of the vulnerability cycle, a nexus of integration that helps the therapist stay anchored while moving through the many layers of therapeutic work. The overall goal is to help the partners move from reactivity to responsibility for their own feelings and behavior; from impasse to a greater ability to reflect, express feelings, listen, negotiate, and make choices about how to be in the relationship. This paper describes a range of concepts and interventions from basic to complex; it is intended as an organizational tool for practice and clinical training.     

A feminist critique of family therapy

This paper is a feminist critique of traditional family therapy considering the cybernetic epistemology underpinning it as a particular way of seeing the family. The political implications of this way of seeing d be considered in tern of structural inequalities with a preference for, the intergroup perspective. There will be a close examination and discussion of the one parent family structure. The discussion will then move one a practical evaluation of the ecosystemic view of helping families, in particular single parent families.     

Selective mutism in children: A structural family therapy approach to treatment

When children refuse to speak in some social settings, but can understand and speak in other settings, the diagnosis of selective mutism must be considered. A review of the literature describes the disorder, the various types of mutism, and related family dynamics. A family systems approach to treatment using structural family therapy is suggested. The case history presented illustrates one type of mutism as well as the family rules and hierarchy which appeared to be maintaining it. Structural and strategic family systems theory techniques that were used to move the family toward resolution of this problem are discussed.Diane Wolf Tatem, MA, MS, completed graduate work in marriage and family therapy at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM. She is employed at Life Management Center of El Paso's Child Development Services and also has a private practice in marriage and family therapy in El Paso, Texas. Robert L. DelCampo, PhD is a professor of family science at New Mexico State University and maintains a private practice with Associates for Marriage and Family Therapy in Las Cruces, NM. Please address all correspondence to Dr. DelCampo at Box 3470, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003-3470.Appreciation is expressed to Dr. Charles Huber, New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, for his insightful critique of the final draft of this paper. This paper was presented at the Texas Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Annual Conference, January 25–29, 1995 in Dallas, TX.     

Marital satisfaction and topographical assessment of marital interaction: A longitudinal analysis of newlywed couples

Despite numerous tests of social learning hypotheses relating to marriage, important questions remain concerning how best to quantify behavior displayed in marital interaction. In the present study, 60 newlywed couples reported their marital satisfaction, engaged in a 15-minute problem-solving discussion, and reported their marital satisfaction again 6 and 12 months later. The interactions were microanalytically coded, the codes were assigned a numeric value, and each spouse's cumulative point totals were plotted as a function of time in the interaction. This was done separately for all 60 couples. Graphs were divided into groups based on the topography of the graphically represented interactions. These groups differed cross-sectionally and longitudinally in their level of marital satisfaction. Couples tended to have lower satisfaction scores when their initial interactions were characterized with behavioral parity between the spouses at the beginning of a discussion, changing to asymmetrical patterns of behavior later in the conversation. This method was found to be more predictive of marital satisfaction than were standard methods of assessing dyadic interaction (i.e., base rates of behavior and sequential analysis). Implications of these data for understanding how interactions relate to the course of newlywed marriage are discussed.     

Jealousy: interventions in couples therapy

Jealousy is a ubiquitous phenomenon that often needs to be addressed in couples therapy. Eleven treatment interventions, with case examples, are discussed, ranging from traditional, direct, straightforward approaches to indirect, paradoxical solutions. Criteria are offered for determining which interventions to use.