Partner-assisted emotional disclosure is a couple-based intervention designed to help patients disclose cancer-related concerns to their spouses-partners. We previously found that, compared with an education/support control condition, partner-assisted emotional disclosure led to significant improvements in relationship quality and intimacy for…

Presents a didactic-experiental workshop that may be used with groups of family therapists and their spouses to help them explore marital issues that sometimes emerge as a result of the work of the family therapist. Concludes family therapists should not neglect their own marriages. (Author/ABL)

Examines the issues related to informed consent and decisions to employ conjoint or one-spouse formats in therapy with discordant couples. Features a discussion of options for ensuring informed consent as protection for both the therapist and his/her client(s). (Author/ABB)

Couples therapy interventions can be used with alcohol abusers and alcoholics during three broadly defined states of recovery: (1) initial commitment to change; (2) change itself; and (3) long-term maintenance of change. Intervening with the alcoholic's spouse (and/or other nonalcoholic family members) can motivate and reinforce commitment to…

Contrasted marriage and family therapy dropouts and completers on interventions they were exposed to over the course of therapy and during the initial session. Results showed families completing therapy were exposed to such interventions as firming up appropriate boundaries, escalating conflict, establishing individual boundaries, and advice…

Nonpatient couples, couples seeking sex therapy, and couples seeking marital therapy, were asked to report on who they felt should and who actually does assume responsibility in marital role areas. Discrepancy between role ideals and behavior was examined. Marital therapy patients were found to experience the most role strain. (Author)

Presents a rationale for counseling couples in groups and illustrates how people can be taught to pair up with counselors in order to help their spouses rather than hurt them. Specific steps in forming and facilitating the group are presented. (BEF)

Discusses the unique characteristics of dual-career marriages/families. These familial units are identified as a high stress group presenting unusual challenges to the clinician. Specific implications for the clinician include: (1) values of therapist and clients; (2) critical issues; and (3) assets and liabilities. (Author)

Suggests that, for some research, interviewing spouses together leads to data being generated that could not be obtained from individual interviews. Interaction of the spouses promotes a fuller presentation of the matter under discussion. This interaction is observed directly and thus can be used as data. (Author/BEF)

Describes a treatment program for couples who mishandle anger or are physically abusive. The treatment endorses the elimination of demonstrations of anger and elaborates upon ways to identify preliminary anger cues. Abusiveness is unacceptable. Methods to improve problem-solving skills and to enhance overall enjoyment of the relationship are also…

The Marital Status Inventory (MSI) differentiates effectively between couples seeking marital counseling and couples seeking help with parent-child problems. For all cases, MSI scores were found to relate significantly to husbands' and wives' marital satisfaction in the areas of companionship and sex. (Author)

Equal voting rights in marriages enhance the relationship, but it is more difficult to manage, and consequently, there are many failures. Solutions offered include: (1) education as information-giving, often not acted upon; (2) therapy, which can come too late to be effective; and (3) marriage enrichment which applies new knowledge preventively.…

Develops an interpersonal perception inventory which demonstrates that various ratings of facial caricature drawings when made by a husband and wife can be used as a predictor of marital adjustment. Analysis of data establishes validity for the Facial Interpersonal Perception Inventory as well as reliability and consistency. Implications are…

This is a description of a workshop focusing on the couple in the remarried family, and stressing the development of a balanced, effectively working family system. The workshop content, which functions through didactic presentations, leader-led exercises, group interactions and homework, addresses the following topics: (1) communication…

Rapprochement among competing methods and views of marital and family therapy constitutes a major creative challenge for the field in the 1980s. Although integrative efforts have begun, psychodynamic understanding of intimate relationships is necessary for continuation of integrative process growth. (Author/NRB)