Psychology 137C Week 8 Lecture 1503-01-2012Couple and Marital Therapy Interventions: Making Intimate Relationships Better- Ch. 12- Therapeutic pathway (today’s class_- Preventative Measures o Before the problems occur (next class)3 Types of “Prevention’- Primary: Before it happenso E.g. Premarital counseling, enrichmento Fairly common: covered next classo Need help in acute way- Secondary: Before it worsenso E.g. seminars, self-help bookso Rare: for couples ‘at risk’- Tertiary: Before it is too lateo ‘Couple therapy’o For distressed and divorcing couples“The work being done on your marriage – are you having it done, or are you doing it yourselves?’- All couples work to maintain their relationships but a couple in there natural lines of defense have broken downCouples Therapy: Some Basics Typically: one therapist and both partners, for 15-20 weekly sessions. Therapists have diverse backgrounds. Specialized interventions exist for serious individual problems, high levels of domestic violence, ongoing affairs. Couples seek help for a wide range of problems, at different stages in their relationship, often long after the problems have been evident. Often triggered by some specific event that itself has a long history behind itWhat People Seek Therapy For- Communication (87%)- Power Struggles (62%)- Sex (47%)- Solving Problems (47%)- Showing Affection (45%)- Money and Finances (43%)- Lack of Loving Feelings (40%)- Children (38%)- Serious Personal Issue (38%)- Items in bold are those common problems that are also most damaging and most difficult to treat. See p. 500- People often seek therapy for multiple problemsA Typical Case- Jill: I am not getting enough closeness from Jack. I need more from him, around the house and with the kids.o “Why are you so insensitive and selfish? Why do you push me away?”- Jack: We have closeness but not enough sex. I want ‘my own space’ and to be valued for what I do.o “Why must you nag me? Why do you ignore my sexual needs?”- As a result, in the context of doing that,: o Both feel misunderstood. o Powerless to improve the situationo Unloved and unappreciatedo Pessimistic about the relationshipo Both want to invest time and money in their relationship, but they also want something that will work.o Third person needed to help the individuals feel understood Key Targets in Couple Therapies Psychodynamic Models: Identify and change unconscious perceptions of partner and associated emotional reactions. Promote ‘authentic’ connections unclouded by these perceptions. Cut through the clutter of ones own history and really encourage people to treat one another in an authentic and accurate way Encourages people to look at each other as unique individuals Systems Models: Identify and change the unstated rules that are guiding  undesirable behaviors. Help couples to see that the problem is in these rules and in their existing solutions, not in one another. Behavioral Models: Change the behaviors and cognitions that give rise to them. Promote basic skills in communication. Emotion Models: Encourage expression of core emotions and healthy responses to these expressions. Help couples to see that their relationship is a safe place in which to express deep feelings, overcome one’s own history in relationships. Try to encourage the individuals to see their relationships as a safe place Derive a lot of their ideas from attachment modelsTested Couples Therapies - ‘Traditional’ behavioral couples therapy (TBCT)o The ‘Benchmark’ or Standardo Mechanical- Cognitive-behavioral couples therapyo Retraining communication and perception- Integrative behavioral couples therapy (IBCT)- Emotionally focused couple therapy TBCT- ‘Reinforcement erosion’ suggests the need for behavior exchange training andrestoring of positive interactions.- ‘Coercive cycles’ suggest the need for training in communication skills (e.g., empathy, listening, validating, expressing negative feelings) and problem solving (e.g., XYZ statements, problem definition, brainstorming, and problemresolution).o Attempt breaking in the coercive cycle- Positives tend to diminish, which is why we need novelty- Help couples recognize that when they are paying attention to one another and doing nice things the relationship is bettero Behaviors during the early stage of the relationshipExperiments: TBCT works pretty Well- Keyo Integrative behavioral couples therapyo Traditional behavioral couples therapy Works pretty well in 2/3 caseso These two approaches don’t different in result- Varied Effectso Recovered – about 40% Can no longer be differentiated from a happy coupleo Improved – about a quarter of peopleo No change More likely to seek individual, couples and other types of therapyo Deterioration  More likely to seek individual, couples and other types of therapyImproving Upon TBCT- Unified Detachment: Helping couples to step back from patterns and see theirbehavior in an unemotional way..o Therapist offers a “theme” that captures both partners’ perspectives but presents it in a neutral way.o Draws attention to the theme when it comes out in therapy.o If possible, presents some of the origins of this theme- Empathic Joining: Having partners express their emotions and feel closer because of it.o Get beyond the “hard” feelings to the vulnerable feelingso Reflect how painful these feelings areo Reframe those feelings in a relationship-enhancing way- Both techniques get to the deeper issues and emphasize “acceptance” over “change.”And?- Keyo Integrative behavioral couples therapyo Traditional behavioral couples therapy- Varied Effectso Recoveredo Improved o No changeo DeteriorationWhat happens during treatment?- Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy with Dr. Leslie GreenbergChapter 12 Key Terms from Textbook-Interventions-Taking action to effect change; may range from specific kinds of educational and therapeutic experiences to harnessing broader social forces and institutions. -Object relations couples therapy-An approach to therapeutic, intervention with couples, which assumes that intimatecommunication, is motivated by unconscious feelings and beliefs and which aims to neutralize these unconscious feelings and beliefs so that partners can authentically relate to one another. -Projective Identification-A