Unhappily married couples (n=10) were divided into an experimental and control group. The treatment program consisted of training couples to interact more positively and efficiently when engaged in problem solving and teaching couples to make written contingency contracts. The group receiving treatment improved significantly more than did the…

Behavioral Marital Therapy (BMT) is clinically useful because it includes elaborating procedures, modifying the spouse's self-defeating cognitions, and moving toward early intervention and prevention. Each article in this issue of American Journal of Family Therapy focuses on innovations in BMT, either in research or practice. (Author/NRB)

Discusses the politics of marital therapy, using behavioral marital therapy as an illustrative model. Views marital therapy as inherently political with therapists continuously adopting political postures unknowingly. Inadvertent consequences of this insensitivity to the political context of their work are to reinforce traditional values, many…

Strategies for teaching couples how to solve their marital problems more effectively is an important part of a social learning or behaviorial approach. Couples need to possess and implement certain problem-solving skills not typically present in the repertoires of distressed couples. (Author)