Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy

There are various techniques which are used in marriage and family therapy. The humanistic therapy is used in marriage counseling to help couples communicate their feelings better with each other. Through this therapy, exercises are used in the sessions which help couples learn the effects of communication and emotional honesty. This type of therapy is client-centered and widely used in marriage therapy, (Gale Encyclopedia, 2009). Family contracts are therapy tool used to treat the family as whole and become part of the solution. Effective family therapy treats the family as a whole and acknowledges that what affects one member affects the whole family, (Long, 2009When it comes to marriage and family therapy there are so many problems that can be addressed. Marriage is really misunderstand, so I think that each party should address what is expected from each other and decided these things are realistic and the other one is capable of

Doherty asserts that what most couples are not aware of is that you can practice marriage therapy without any experience, training or coursework. This is because any counseling license will allow a person to counsel couples, whether they have experience or not. He also states that couples therapy was the only form of therapy to receive low ratings by a survey done in 1996 by Consumer Report. With all of that said, it is not surprising why there are so many couples out there who have experienced “bad couple therapy”. Therefore it is imperative that John and Susan know how to avoid being caught up in this dilemma.

This article gave detailed knowledge of two couple therapies; the Traditional Behavior Couple Therapy (TBCT) and the Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT). 12 studies were done over a period of time on both therapies where they described and compared their short and long term effectiveness in treating marital distress. The article went in depth over the results of both of these therapies, discussing what changes the therapies would lead to in the course of treatment. It also discussed the advantages that one therapy had over the other, the therapy’s focuses, how fast or slow couples improved while in treatment, the couple’s communication after therapy, and the relationship outcome of the couples that had therapy. The article discusses the importance of feedback during the therapy

Due to the many incidences of extramarital affairs, the percentage of couples seeking therapy while coping with adultery is largely unknown. Even with the enormous amount of occurrences, as well as clinical research in couple’s therapy, only three earlier studies have delved into the actual usefulness that couples therapy has had on extramarital affairs (Marin, Christensen & Atkins, 2014).

According to Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach (2015), anxiety is defined as a “negative mood state characterized by bodily symptoms of physical tension and apprehension about the future” (Barlow, 2015). Anxiety is a set of behaviors, such as looking worried, anxious or fidgety, or a physiological response in the brain that is reflected by increased heart rate and muscle tension (Barlow et al., 2015). Within the spectrum of anxiety disorder, there are many disorders that are classified under anxiety, such as panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. In regards to this essay, the anxiety disorders of obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic

It is imperative to acknowledge the seriousness on extramarital affairs because of the detrimental effects they can have on both the guilty and injured individuals. Marriage is a life-long commitment between two individuals and the incident of infidelity compromises the marriage relationship and results in a very difficult road back to normalcy. Couples therapy has a long, verifiable record for successfully treating marital discord and P. Dews (personal communication, March 26, 2016) believes that couples seriously considering reconciliation should work through their situation under the guidance of an experienced counsellor. Although there are different approaches to the successful treatment of extramarital marital affairs, the most successful methods including relapse prevention planning and forgiveness (Cordova, 2006, p. 193).

Their case is complicated and needs a long-term therapy. It is better to use Emotion-Focused Therapy for Couples (EFT-C) which “treated differentially depending on which emotion is expressed and how it functions for both the individual and the couple.” Firstly interviewing both of them separately to get more information about what happened in the past thirty years, and then according to the information they provided to design relative interventions for both of them together. For Owen, the individual system which focuses on biological and psychological aspects of the biopsychosocial systems model works because his behaviors started the long journey of marital drama. It is better to understand their circumstances at that time. Owen’s behavior did not match his image. What were the factors (relationship with Shirley, parents or other family members, work or colleagues, etc.) that cause his dishonest? How did he explain and deal with Shirley when she found out the affairs? Did he have feelings to those women he had sex with? What was his attitude to his behavior? Did he think of divorce since he was not a Christian at the time and did not care about religious commitment? It is also important to ask him how did he convert to Christianity 12 years later after the affairs, as well as his feelings of giving up career firstly in China, and then in Canada. Did he sacrifice his careers out of love or guilty?

a three-stage process with nine specific steps. The goal of the first stage is de-escalation

Gottman method couple therapy or Gottman's Sound Relationship House (SRH) theory (Gottman, 1999) is grounded on years of John Gottman’s research and exploration about what makes marital relationships succeed or fail. The outcomes of these studies reveal that couples with successful

The points I learned about behavioral couples therapy are clients need to change their own behaviors and not others, help clients understand goals, find out what changes do they want to make, and be an expert on what behaviors will work and which behaviors will not after experimenting them in the real world. What stands out to me are that clients focus on changing their own behaviors. Additionally, counselors should identify and maximize their clients strengths. I thought that not spending time on how clients learned behaviors, but understanding what are their learned behaviors was the most beneficial part of the model. What I might consider in my own work was when Dr. Stuart was focusing on the here and now and not the past. I understood what

After completing reading the materials for this week, I have decided that my personal method of intervention to couple’s therapy is the model of Cognitive Behavioral Couple Therapy or mostly known as CBCT. Such model of intervention assists distressed couples to function adequately by teaching couples how to improve their communication utilizing techniques or ideas increasing their satisfaction level. Besides, CBCT has been researched and supported by a systemic family therapy (D’Aniello, 2013). In other words, in an intervention, the therapist uses techniques to help the couple to build commitment to prevent distress and increase satisfaction.

Psychiatric studies that were part of this study include Beck Depression Inventory, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, and SCL-90-R questionnaires. The Beck Depression Inventory questionnaire measures the severity of depression and screens patients who require intervention. BDI scores minimal depression from 0-13, mild depression from 14-19, moderate depression from 20-28, with severe depression scoring lying within the 29-63 range (Beck AT. Depression: Causes and Treatment. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006). HARS provides an overall measure of global anxiety that is psychiatric and somatic symptomatically. Scoring ranges from 0-56 with a score over 14 indicating high levels of anxiety (Bagby RM, Ryder AG, Schuller DR, Marshall MB. "The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale: has the gold standard become a lead weight?" Am J Psychiatry 2004; 161(12):2163-77). SCL-90-R questionnaire presented

Mental Health counselors and marriage and family therapist treat people with mental and emotional disorders. They treat problems with anxiety and depression. I feel this like I will do well with this lifestyle because I think I will like helping others with these problems. I would be working in a mental health center. I do not think this will have to big of an impact on my lifestyle. The average pay for a mental health counselor is $42,840. Marriage and family therapist's average pay is $49,170. In Mississippi the average pay for a Mental Health Counselor is $38,150 and for a Marriage and Family Therapist is $45,720. I think this job will not only fit in with my lifestyle, but

Dan and Helen is a couple who sought therapy because of a problem they have that is sexual in nature: they apparently differ in values and beliefs when it comes to sexual expression. Helen is more expressive than Dan, both in communicating her feeling of dissatisfaction with their sex life and expressing her sexual desire and needs to her husband. The environment she grew up in developed her belief that desire should be expressed without inhibition, communicatively and physically. Having more experience with sexual play than her husband, Helen desires to express herself more sexually with her husband.

Gottman highlights that the integration of active listening and conflict resolution techniques is not sufficient to safeguard marriages from a probable divorce. Due to that couples who have to develop throughout the years a high level of resentment in their relationship usually fails in mending the relationship through communication alone. Therefore, Gottman suggests that couples should primarily focus on constructing positive feeling, mutual experiences, and in solving their difficulties and barriers (Gottman, J. and Silver, N., 2000).