Presents a short biography of the 2012 winner of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Applied Research. Leslie S. Greenberg is an exemplary scientist-practitioner whose pioneering work has significantly altered the landscape of the field of psychotherapy research and practice. His seminal…

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of treating depression with coping-oriented couples therapy (COCT) as compared with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT; A. T. Beck, C. Ward, & M. Mendelson, 1961) and interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT; M. M. Weissman, J. C. Markowitz, & G. L. Klerman, 2000). Sixty couples, including 1…

Proposes use of dreamwork to evoke historical patterns or transgenerational themes. Describes new variant of dreamwork which combines aspects of both gestalt and family systems therapies. Implications of therapeutic dramatization for couple therapy are suggested. Examples are included. (Author/NB)

During psychotherapeutic work, couples typically present distinctly contradictory stories about their life together. This paper explores how a psychotherapist may promote mutually beneficial change for couples who contradict each other. One suggested tactic is a non-impositional approach to therapy using a narrative-oriented context. Such a tactic…

Demonstrated that behavioral marital therapy (BMT) and insight-oriented marital therapy (IOMT) could be rendered in a distinct and uncontaminated fashion in manual-guided outcome research where therapists were crossed with treatment condition. BMT proved to be highly structured, with 93 percent of therapist interventions reflecting behavioral…

This article presents an interview with Al Pesso and Diane Boyden, founders of Pesso Boyden System Psychomotor (PBSP), or psychomotor psychotherapy. This system of psychotherapy incorporates the body and movement in to a process of individualized "structures" that have implication for marriage and family therapists. (GCP)

Presents a theoretical construct (prostrate-detonate-dominate-ingratiate) to explain the development and maintenance of wife-battering. Ties the construct to research evidence and, along with clinical observations, uses it to develop a rationale for a type of therapy deemed effective with wife-batters: group marital Relationship Enhancement.…

The use of early memories of the marriage relationship in counseling couples provides couples and therapists with insight into individual's convictions about present relationships. This is an extension of the use of early recollections in Adlerian therapy. The literature is reviewed and case examples are provided. (Author/EMK)

Implementing behavioral marital therapy is discussed with emphasis on techniques of problem solving, communications training, behavioral contracting, and homework assignments. The therapist's intervention style and the aspects of treatment which aid in generalization and maintenance of therapeutic gains are also described, and a typical treatment…

Distressed couples were assigned to behavioral marital therapy, communication therapy, or a wait-list. Treated couples demonstrated more change than controls in marital problems and general communication patterns, but not in feelings toward spouse or communication during conflict resolution discussions. No overall differences were reported between…

Supports marital enrichment as an effective intervention technique with couples. Linear letters can enhance the enrichment process and can be assessed more effectively by the instruments used to measure change in this study than can change induced through the paradoxical letters. (Author)

Although psychotherapy traditionally has been thought of as talking therapy, written communication can be used as an effective supplement, across a range of theoretical approaches and therapeutic stages. Writing can aid clients in deepening awareness and enable them to use their inherent resources for becoming whole persons. For example, one…

Photographs and family albums are helpful in marriage and family psychotherapy to aid in the understanding of family processes, relationship patterns, goals, expectations, values, traditions, and ideals. Based on the assumption that a photograph is a form of communication, photography can be used to: (1) examine typical family picture-taking…

Reports a case of multiple personality in which therapy was directed at the marital couple, rather than focusing on the multiple personality. The functions of the symptom in the areas of impulse discharge, superego operation, boundaries of closeness-distance, and self-object representations for the couple and family are discussed. (Author/JAC)

Examined the acceptability of four therapeutic models (i.e., behavioral, psychoanalytic, systems, and eclectic) used in treatment of marital discord. Subjects (N=88) evaluated four treatment sequences as they applied to a marital case history. Results showed that, among varying treatments, behavioral and systems approaches were rated more…