Couples Therapy Essay

Couples therapy has long been centered around treating the relationship rather than the individual(s) in the relationship. Those who most generally present to couples therapy are people who are in a dissatisfactory relationship but are none the less “normal,” meaning they have no psychological disorders. But what happens when one (or both) of the individuals in therapy presents to couples therapy but also has a psychological disorder? Could couples therapy help alleviate individual problems within the context of the relationship? Could the therapist and couple work together to help both the individual dealing with the mental disorder and the couple’s relationship at the same time? A few examples have shown that it is possible to help the
An example of how a partner can help with someone who is battling an eating disorder shows just how beneficial it can be to have a partner to help guide and support the individual along the way. When an individual presents to therapy with anorexia nervosa (AN) one of the first major treatment goals is to help the individual become more open about the problem they are facing, as it is often kept as a private struggle from the partner (Baucom, 2012). The next step Baucom (2012) describes is psychoeducation. In this stage of treatment the therapist makes sure that both individuals are aware of and are able to conceptualize the treatment process. This will help them be able to work as a team during treatment. The next stage is communication training (Baucom, 2012). In this stage of treatment the main objective is to establish two sets of communication skills: sharing thoughts and feelings and decision making (Baucom, 2012). The last portion of treatment for the couple is to address AN-specific issues. This is where the couple will use their communication skills to help overcome potentially triggering issues for the partner with
Behavioral marital therapy (BMT) focuses on a “skills oriented approach” where couples learn about basic understanding of relationship interactions and how to diffuse destructive interactions (Baucom, 1998). Insight-orientated marital therapy (IOMT) “emphasizes the resolution of conflictual emotional processes that exist either within one or both spouses separately, between spouses interactively, or within the broader family system” (Baucom, 1998). Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) which focuses on the “centrality of emotion in marital distress and in marital therapy” (Baucom,