Beyond empiricism: The politics of marital therapy

Gender-Related Predictors of Change in Marital Satisfaction and Marital Conflict

“…Clinicians must attend to gender differences in power, communication, relationship perceptions, decision making, and conflict management, and they must do so dyadically. For example, Jacobson (1983) observed that therapists' failure to deal explicitly with power issues may explain the temporary success of marital therapy, as half of the couples who improve subsequently relapse at follow up. Perhaps the methods used by many couples therapists shift the power imbalance so the wife is heard, however only for a short period of time while attending regular couples counseling.…”

Engaging men in family therapy: does the gender of the therapist make a difference?

“…Engaging in values clarification, generally, and specifically with regard to the socializing influences regarding men and masculinity, was highly valued by both female and male panelists. Such a perspective is in keeping with the feminist critique of family therapy (Feldman, 1982;Goldner, 1988;Hare-Mustin, 1978Hines and Hare-Mustin, 1978;Jacobson, 1983;James, 1984;James andMcIntyre, 1983, 1989;Taggart, 1985), and is in keeping with the recommendations of Erickson (1998) and others (McDaniel et al, 1995). Seventy per cent of the original items in this category were endorsed as significant by both female and male panelists, suggesting the paramount importance of the therapist uncovering the subtleties of his or her own gender socialization in developing the basic awareness of gender issues.…”

Some Prospects for Couples Therapy

“…Collaborative therapy with two therapists each treating one spouse (Greene 8. Four way sessions where the couples' different therapists join for a joint Together with these different forms of treatment a number of approaches have been developed: some of these include behavioural (Jacobson & Margolin, 1979), systemic (Sluzki, 1978), cognitive (Epstein, 1982), psychoanalytic (Nadelson, 1978), gestalt (Hale, 1978) and transactional analysis (Magram,198 1). The possible combinations of form and approach indicate the diversity in couples treatment that has taken place over the last two decades.…”