Although some do not believe couples therapy, or marrying later on in life will help lower the divorce rate, steps should still be taken to try, just because one person does not believe in it does not mean it will not work. People believe divorce is not a crisis because they have never seen it happen to their parents, or even had it happen to their own relationship. If they had experienced these things they would try everything to save their relationship, and therapy and marring older and wiser can help. Couples therapy only works if one gives it the chance to. Like Sara’s husband did not want to go to therapy, but now that he did it is helping their relationship. A guy writing a letter to his therapist was having the same problem as Sara’s …show more content…
Often times one will attend couples therapy because their friends have been there and it helped them, but that is not a good enough reason people come. Mary Cocharo, a therapist in Los Angeles says “Yes, I do get a lot of people who come in because another couple told them it was great” (Miller 2). Then she goes on to say how she “doubts people would make themselves that vulnerable just because it’s popular” (Miller 2). She is proving that therapy is something for everyone, and for the people who truly need it. Why would someone waste their time and money on something just because it is popular? They would not. By Mary saying that another couple thought it was great proves that it should be done, but only if in serious need. Therapy is also a great solution to the crisis of divorce because of the way practicing therapy has advanced. Bill Doherty, director of the Minnesota Couples on the Brink Project at the University of Minnesota has changed his ways of practice, for the better. In an article about marriage counseling, it states “Doherty didn’t always practice what he now preaches. At the start of his career, he said, he took an individualistic approach to couples therapy, and if one partner didn’t want to save the marriage, he didn’t see how it was worth saving” (Couples Therapy: When 3). Doherty, like many other therapist, have changed the way they practice therapy too. It is important to know what needs to be changes in a marriage to prevent one person from leaving. Take Sara’s relationship for example, they got married young, but they attended therapy knowing what needed to be done to save their relationship and their marriage is now stronger than ever. Divorce rates can be lowered in many ways, but the most effective would be attending couples
Ripley, J. S., & Worthington Jr., E. L. (2014). Couple therapy: A new hope-focused approach. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN:
As a marriage, couple, and family counselor, theories are used to help guide individuals, couples, and families. Theories help with the development of relationships, strengthen connections, and improves negative behavior. Counseling clients will not only help them, but it will also improve the development of the counselor’s practice.
Emotionally focused therapy is designed to be short-term in structure. Developed principally by Dr. Susan Johnson, the main target of this type of therapy is couples and is focused on expressing emotions. The primary goal of emotionally focused therapy is to create a safe and long-lasting bond between romantic partners and family members while expanding and restructuring significant emotional responses. Partakers in emotionally focused therapy are emboldened to express their thoughts and emotions in a safe environment without fear of judgment. In this paper, we will discuss a therapy session between Sue Johnson and a couple, Leslie and Scott.
Supporting Evidence for Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy Initial EFT Research – the 1980’s The evidence base for Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFT) contains a rich history of research not only by its founders, but also by a wide range of professionals within the fields of counseling and psychology. Johnson and Greenberg (1985) first examined the effectiveness of the EFT model by comparing the outcomes of EFT treated couples to those of couples treated in a traditional problem-solving manner. Through newspaper recruitment and subsequent assessment interviews, 45 couples were chosen to participate in a study in which 15 were randomly assigned to EFT treatment, 15 to cognitive-behavioral problem-solving treatment, and 15 to a control group receiving no treatment. Six measures were utilized, including the Test of Emotional Styles (ES), the Couples Therapy Alliance Scale (AS), the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS), Target Complaints (TC), Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), and the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationships Inventory (PAIR).
According to the National Survey of Families and Households, 86 percent of married couples who stick it out through the hard times found that five years later, they had a better marriage than ever, that they are happier in their life than they have ever been, they feel better and they are grateful that they did not make a poor decision (www.nsfa.com exact reference needed). Despite this good news, couples are still divorcing and families are being torn apart.
Baucom, D.H., Shoham, V., Mueser, K.T., Daiuto, A D., & Stickle, T R. (1998). Empirically supported couple and family interventions for marital distress and adult mental health problems. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psycholog...
Divorce is and has become a major issue in our society, the reason for that has been attributed to the drastic increase in divorce rates over the years. Divorce often disrupts the flow of the family structure, increases discord, and affects how family issues are handled. Families dealing with divorce are often times in a state of complete confusion and disorder, and filled with frustration, anger, and pain. Power struggles between spouses, which often times spread to the children if there any increase as the addiction worsens. There is a growing concernment among those in different fields like Social Work, Academia, and Mental Health in the United States, other countries, who have taken an interest in how divorce is readjusting
Marriage is a commitment that seems to be getting harder to keep. The social standards placed on an individual by society and influenced by the media inevitably lead some to consider divorce as a “quick-fix” option. “Have it your way” has become a motto in the United States. It has become a country without any consideration of the psychological effects of marriage and divorce. The overwhelmingly high divorce rate is caused by a lack of moral beliefs and marital expectations.
While her therapist helps her with her father, the therapist unintentionally improves her relationship with her husband. At Southeastern Louisiana University’s common read, Smith explains, “I think I was able to meet him [her husband] because I cleared up a lot of silly stuff through therapy” (Smith). This confirmation allows the reader to receive a higher understanding of the effect therapy impacted Tracy K. Smith.
I have based my approach on the data that was presented to me through intake forms and viewing prior sessions with the couple. To protect the couple from any negative counter-transference, I filtered my observations through the theories of Gottman’s Married Couple Therapy (2008), Johnson’s Emotionally Focused Therapy (2008) (EFT), and David’s Integrated Model of Couple Therapy (2013a) (ICT). The bulk of this paper will then examine my therapeutic approach, the supporting theoretical concepts, and my strengths and weaknesses as a therapist during the session. The latter will include peer feedback, instructor feedback, and self-critique. This paper will conclude with a brief discussion of the future direction of therapy were I to remain their therapist.
Mending the Attachment and Couples Therapy African Americans experienced an attachment rupture through the implementation of slavery that continues to impact the contemporary relationship. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) also known as Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) can be used to rebuild the attachment within couples and address the historical attachment issues they experience. “The goal of EFT is to reprocess experience and reorganize interactions to create a secure bond between the partners, a sense of secure connectedness. The focus here is always on attachment concerns; on safety, and contact; and on the obstacles to the above.”
The techniques used in marriage and family counseling can be different. For instance, counselors will sometimes handle family therapy in different ways than they would couples or marital therapy. Both family and marriage c...
Gottman’s book The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work has, helped understand better the dynamic within my marriage. I am the type of person who does not like to speak about personal problems with anyone, let alone a stranger. My husband and I seek marriage counseling about two years ago. However, after four sessions I decided to stop attending. I felt that the listening and the expressing of our feelings was not helping in mending our relationship instead, I felt more resentful. I could not understand why I felt that way when everyone kept telling me that therapy is the best thing to do to work out our
Marriage Dance is a treatment group designed for couples to work on their marital issues. A rationale for the use of therapeutic group work as an intervention is to help the members understand that they are not the only ones facing such problems, something that individual case work alone cannot achieve. Furthermore, the process of mutual aid takes place during group work when members draw upon their own experiences and deep-seated needs to support their fellow members. It is through this process of “giving” where these members also “receive” and learn from their past experiences (Kurland & Salmon, 1993).
One aspect I found striking was the role of advice giving in counseling. Prior to this class, I knew that counselors did not typically give opinions or advice to lead a client in a certain direction. What I did not know was the entire reasoning behind this. A counselor might avoid giving advice so that a client learns to make his/her own decisions, does not become dependent on the counselor, and to ensure that a client will not later blame the counselor if the counselor’s advice did not turn out well. In this context, I have a better appreciation and understanding of why therapists refrain from telling the client what to do.