Sense of Entitlement in Couple Relationships: An Attachment Theory Perspective

Our sense of entitlement is activated and influences our interactions and attitudes in a wide range of contexts, but it seems to have special relevance to couple relationships, as these intimate relationships serve as a unique meeting point between needs, wishes, and expectations. Emphasis is placed on the connection between one's sense of entitlement in a romantic relationship and early experiences of entitlement in the context of relationships with primary caregivers. An understanding of the development of normal and pathological senses of entitlement is suggested based on attachment theory; according to this understanding, one's sense of entitlement is conceived as part of internal working models and thus is closely related to one's specific attachment style. Two clinical illustrations that show the effects of the partners' sense of entitlement on their relationship are presented and discussed in connection with early attachments.     

Relationships between Theory of Mind and Attachment Styles in Emerging Adulthood

Journal of Adult Development - Several studies have highlighted a relationship between attachment and theory of mind (ToM) in childhood and in clinical populations. However, little is known about...     

The Implicit Domain in Couples and Couple Therapy

At this point in the evolution of our field, developments in psychoanalysis and family systems, as well as findings from cognitive neuroscience and research in infant development are pointing to convergences in our understanding of the human experience. One central point of convergence has been the understanding of implicit modes of experience, particularly as this relates to affective communication. Through the lens of couples and couple therapy, this paper examines the ways in which the patterning of couple and family relationships takes place in the enactive domain through nonconscious, implicit communication processes. With the understanding that it is in the nature of implicit experience that it must be enacted to be accessed, this paper argues that some of that which is stored in the implicit domain remains embedded and enacted in one's most intimate relationships and therefore can only be accessed within the context of those relationships. This paper then explores some of the implications of implicit processes as this relates to the triad of the therapist and the couple in couple therapy.     

Couples in Therapy: Actor-Partner Analyses of the Relationships Between Adult Romantic Attachment and Marital Satisfaction

This study was the first to investigate the relationship between adult romantic attachment and marital satisfaction in a clinical sample of 172 distressed couples seeking therapy. Fifty-six therapy-seeking nondistressed couples were also assessed for comparison. Analyses of variance showed that attachment avoidance was a distinctive characteristic of distressed couples. Actor-partner analyses revealed that attachment avoidance (for men and women) and attachment anxiety (for women only) were predictive of marital dissatisfaction for distressed couples. Gender-stereotype discordant partner effects were also found. Results suggest that attachment orientations (especially avoidance) are relevant predictors of marital dissatisfaction in distressed couples seeking therapy, and that couple therapists can gain important information by assessing partners’ attachment orientations.     

Assessing Attachment of Couples in Therapy: A Factor Analysis of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale

The overall goal of this study was to examine the factor structure of the “Experiences in Close Relationships” instrument (Brennan et al. 1998; ECR) for assessing adult attachment among a clinical sample by conducting a series of exploratory factor analyses (EFA). While the measure demonstrated high reliability and strong validity among the original sample of college undergraduates (Brennan et al.), the factor structure had yet to be examined among participants involved in therapy. It is unclear if any results obtained using the ECR extrapolate to populations other than the original sample. Our findings support the factor structure of the ECR for assessment of attachment anxiety and avoidance among a more diverse, clinical population. Noteworthy differences between men and women also were found in the clinical sample. Finally, clinical implications for use with clients participating in therapy are discussed.     

Couples Relationships of AFDC Mothers

SUMMARY

Virtually nothing is known about AFDC mothers and their relationships with their male friends. Yet such men are clearly an influence in their lives. Findings from a sample of 275 Baltimore AFDC mothers provide important exploratory data about the characteristics of these relationships and about how women who have a long-term male friend differ from AFDC mothers who do not. Implications for work with these couples are also presented.     

The Effects of Differentiation and Attachment on Satisfaction and Acculturation in Asian-White American International Couple Relationships: Assessment With Chinese,South Korean,and Japanese Partners in Relationships With White American Partners in the United States

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of differentiation and attachment on acculturation and relational satisfaction in Asian partners in Asian-White American international couple relationships. Eighty-seven native-born Chinese, South Korean, and Japanese partners within an international couple relationship with a White American partner in the United States participated in this study. Regression results supported the hypotheses that differentiation and acculturation were significantly related to relationship satisfaction. Differentiation was also significantly associated with acculturation. Attachment style was not significantly associated with levels of relationship satisfaction or acculturation. Overall, the researchers found that differentiation and acculturation were important factors influencing the relationship satisfaction in Asian-White American international couples in the United States. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.     

An Attachment Perspective on Reunions in Couple Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy

Psychoanalysis has been slow to acknowledge attachment theory as one of its own. Yet traditions of observational and representational research associated with it have much to offer in shedding light on intrapsychic as well as interpersonal phenomena. This paper explores these traditions and their potential clinical utility for couple psychoanalytic psychotherapy. In particular, attention is drawn to behaviour and representations associated with the experience of reunion in therapy sessions.     

The Co-Construction of New Meanings in Couple Relationships

SUMMARY

The gender informed psychotherapist has Ihc challenge of addressing power issues in couple relationships in a manner that is both gender sensitive and blame free. The Relationship Enhancement model of couple therapy (Guerney, 1977) is particularly suitable for doing this. The model integrates the qualities of empathy and autonomy that are culturally considered feminine and masculine respectively. It systematically teaches couples how to interact with each other in a non-blaming way that is deeply empathic, rationally assertive, and sensitive to how meanings can be both de-constructed and co-constructed in dialogue. The model also permits the integration of relevant techniques from other therapeutic approaches.     

Psychoanalytic Models of the Mind for Couple and Family Therapy

This paper describes an object relations theory of mind that highlights the interactive origin of psychic function and the beginnings of mental structure in the infant's relationships within the family group. Based on this model, psychoanalytic family and couple therapy employs the interactions between family and therapist to detect and work with developmental failures in holding and containment, skewed family projective identification, and attacks on linking, which characterize pathological and traumatized families. The coming together of transference generated by the family as a group and the therapist's countertransference are the fulcrum on which such therapy turns. An extended vignette of a session is used to illustrate the application of object relations theory to the therapeutic process of family therapy.     

Embodying the Couple Relationship: Kinesthetic Empathy and Somatic Mirroring in Couples Therapy

Kinesthetic sensitivity plays a central role in the development of empathy and in understanding others’ intentions, skills that greatly affect spousal satisfaction. The present study examines how, in the couple relationship, somatic mirroring of the other’s physical expressions creates an emotional experience in the relationship, and in couples therapy, sets processes in motion. Such understanding is critical in couples therapy to harness the embodied knowledge needed to address issues in areas where verbal discussion is insufficient. Nine couples (n?=?18) participated in 12 couples therapy sessions that incorporated somatic mirroring. The sessions were documented on video and through the personal diaries kept by the therapists and patients. The participants related to four main themes: Somatic mirroring (a) creates comfort and emotional availability, (b) contributes to identifying and labeling feeling, (c) contributes to arousing intimacy and desire, and (d) avoiding somatic mirroring is characteristic of moments of conflict in the relationship. To create a bridge between the research and the clinic, in the Discussion section methods for connecting with embodied knowledge in couples therapy are examined, with the implications of having familiarity with such knowledge on the intimate relationship and the couple’s communication.     

Olfactory Comfort and Attachment Within Relationships

We replicated a previous study that found that men and women often smell their sexual partners' clothing when they are apart ( McBurney, Shoup, & Streeter, 2006 ). We found that women tend to perform this behavior across a broader range of relationships than do men. We asked 128 participants if they had ever intentionally smelled another person's clothing, slept with another person's clothing because of its smell, or given another person an article of their own clothing. The most common response was a romantic partner's clothing. However, women more often than men reported smelling the clothing of family members.     

The Brief Accessibility,Responsiveness, and Engagement (BARE) Scale: A Tool for Measuring Attachment Behavior in Couple Relationships

This article describes the purpose, reliability, validity, and potential clinical applications of the Brief Accessibility, Responsiveness, and Engagement (BARE) scale. In addition to focusing on the central attachment behaviors of accessibility and responsiveness, this instrument highlights the key role of engagement in couple bonding. The BARE is a short, systemic, self‐report measure of attachment behaviors in couple relationships. Both classical testing theory and Item Response Theory were used to test the psychometric properties of the instrument. The BARE demonstrated appropriate reliability and validity while maintaining its brevity and potential usefulness for clinicians and researchers. The BARE also accurately predicted the key relationship outcomes of stability and satisfaction. The data for this study were collected from the RELATE assessment (see www.relate-institute.org ).     

Meaning-Centered Couples Therapy: Logotherapy and Intimate Relationships

Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy posits that human life has purpose and that human beings are motivated to discover meaning in their lives. This paper’s objective is to present a case for incorporating meaning into couples therapy as a way of enhancing a clinician’s existing approach. Logotherapy is a potentially useful modality, regardless of the clinician’s theoretical orientation, given its collaborative nature and focus on the significance of meaning and values to the human condition. A logotherapeutic approach to couples therapy (i.e., meaning-centered couples therapy) would involve values clarification (individually and collectively) and emphasis on a love that is based on acceptance and self-transcendent growth. Logotherapy techniques are discussed, a composite illustration is presented, and recommendations for research are offered.     

儿童的两种亲密人际关系:亲子依恋与友谊

以城市三所普通小学四、五、六年级的505名学生为被试,用问卷调查、团体施测的方式,探讨儿童亲子依恋与其友谊的关系,结果发现：在儿童友谊质量方面,父、母均有影响,在友谊的数量,如好朋友提名分方面母亲的作用也是显见的;亲子依恋特质的两成分(信赖、亲近)对儿童友谊质量的积极特征和冲突水平有相对不同预测力。     

Assessment of Couple Relationships Standards in Same-Sex Attracted Adults

Relationship standards are beliefs about what makes a good romantic relationship. To date, no research on relationship standards in same-sex relationships has been conducted. This paper describes development of the Rainbow Couples Relationship Standards Scale (Rainbow CRSS). In common with measures of relationship standards developed with heterosexuals, the Rainbow CRSS assesses the importance people attach to Couple Bond standards (expression of love, caring, intimacy), Family Responsibility standards (extended family relations, maintenance of face and harmony), Religion, and Relationship Effort standards. The Rainbow CRSS also assesses three standards hypothesized to be of particular importance to same-sex couples: Relationship Outness (public disclosure of the relationship), Sexual Openness (acceptance of open sexual relationship), and Dyadic Coping with Homophobic discrimination. Participants were 414 same-sex attracted men and women who completed the Rainbow CRSS online, plus some validation scales. The Rainbow CRSS showed a coherent two-level factor structure that was similar to that in heterosexual couples for the Couple Bond and Family Responsibility Scales. Same-sex attracted people's standards were similar for men and women, and for singles versus those in a relationship. Same-sex attracted people's standards were very similar in endorsement of Couple Bond, Family Responsibility, Religion, and Relationship Effort standards to those of heterosexuals. The Relationship Outness and Dyadic Coping with Homophobia scales assessed potentially important standards that reflect some distinctive challenges for same-sex couple relationships.     

The Efficacy of Behavioral Couples Therapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couple Distress

Twenty treatment outcome studies, 13 of which evaluated behavioral couples therapy (BCT) and seven of which evaluated emotionally focused therapy (EFT) were reviewed, leading to the following conclusions. BCT leads to short and long-term gains for moderate to severe couple distress. In the long term BCT probably leads to no better outcomes than its constituent components—behavioral exchange training and communication and problem solving skills training. Addition of a cognitive therapy component to BCT or the use of a variety of treatment formats does not improve the efficacy of BCT. Integrative couples therapy and insight-oriented marital therapy may be more effective than BCT, but studies supporting this conclusion require replication. EFT leads to short and long-term gains for mild to moderate couple distress. Addition of a cognitive therapy component to EFT does not enhance its efficacy. EFT may be more effective than problem solving therapy and less effective than integrated systemic therapy, but the two studies supporting this conclusion require replication.Michael Byrne, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist, Midland Health Board, Ireland; Alan Carr, PhD, is Director of the Clinical Psychology Training Programme, Department of Psychology, Arts Building, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland (alan.carr@ucd.ie). Marie Clark, PhD, is Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, United Kingdom.