Behavioral Couple Therapy: Building a Secure Base for Therapeutic Integration

Abstract

Behavioral couple therapy (BCT), one of the two most empirically supported approaches to the treatment of couple discord, has undergone enormous changes in its four decades-long clinical and conceptual history. The evolution of thought about what maintains couple disaffection and distress and what can be done about it from a behavioral perspective is reviewed. These changes are considered in the larger context of the field of behavior therapy, noting shifts within BCT that parallel the three "waves" of development within that field. Integrative behavioral couple therapy (IBCT), the most visible and influential of the several BCT approaches, is examined, with particular attention to its functional-contextual base and the nature and role of functional analysis in clinical case conceptualization. It is argued that continuing enhancement and refinement of IBCT as an integrative therapeutic method will require greater flexibility in the techniques that are used and increased attention to the self of the IBCT therapist.

Active Ingredients of Treatment and Client Mechanisms of Change in Behavioral Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorders: Progress 10 Years Later

“…Primary therapist behaviors in TBCT include: psychoeducation, modeling and coaching new behaviors, behavioral rehearsal, and reinforcing successive approximations of desired outcomes (Fischer and Fink, 2014). IBCT therapist behaviors include several of these elements, but also focus on the therapist identifying common themes that underlie the couple’s dysfunctional interactions, and using his or her own emotional reactions to partner behaviors in the session to help guide interventions in the session (Gurman 2013). There is no published research relating these hypothesized ingredients to MOBCs or treatment outcomes.…”

Putting the “Family” Back Into Family Therapy

“…For example, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been adapted for family and couple contexts (Gurman, 2013). For example, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) has been adapted for family and couple contexts (Gurman, 2013).…”

Thematic review of family therapy journals in 2013

“…). Of these, the late Alan Gurman's () article is particularly informative. It traces the emergence of modern integrative behavioural couple therapy from early simplistic behavioural approaches, and shows how this modern approach (which integrates useful insights from almost all other approaches to couple therapy) developed in response to the results of empirical research, clinical practice and theoretical developments in the broad field of couple therapy.…”