Relational Engagement in Heterosexual Couple Therapy: Helping Men Move from “I” to “We”

Samman, Sarah K.; Knudson‐Martin, Carmen

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-13398-0_7

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Sociocultural attunement seemed to enable therapists in this study to move from an abstract understanding of societal context to being able to voice clients’ personal lived experiences around the connections between vulnerability and power. Taken together with previous findings that relationally engaging powerful partners required validation of their relational desires, followed immediately by clinical responses that made them aware of the relational consequences of their actions (Samman & Knudson‐Martin, 2015), our analysis suggests that relational accountability on the part of more powerful partners is most likely when effects of sociopolitical power are translated into felt experience.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Sociocultural Attunement to Vulnerability in Couple Therapy: Fulcrum for Changing Power Processes in Heterosexual Relationships

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Increasingly, couple therapists are called to promote equity in their clinical practice, yet little research illuminates the intricacy of doing this work. The purpose of this study was to clarify the clinical processes involved when therapists facilitate a more equitable balance of power in couple relationships while utilizing a sociocontextual frame of reference. It is part of larger research explicating Socio‐Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT), an approach that places equity and social justice at the core. The sample included 72 SERT sessions with nine heterosoexual couples in which there was an observable power difference between partners. Using Charmaz’s (2014, Constructing grounded theory: A practical guide through qualitative analysis, Sage) grounded theory coding, theoretical sampling, and interpretive methods, we examined therapist/client responses over multiple sessions to explain shifts in the couples’ power balance. Analysis identified sociocultural attunement to vulnerability as the core clinical process and detailed five sociocultural expressions: socialized vulnerability, socialized invulnerability, reactive (in)vulnerability, reactive vulnerability, and shared vulnerability. Shifts in power involved each of three therapist stances: (a) identification of the societal power context of vulnerability, (b) therapist leadership and responsive persistence, and (c) facilitating mutual sociocultural attunement to vulnerability to promote shared relational responsibility and influence. Implications address the connections between power and vulnerability in couples work and what therapists can do to more effectively facilitate relational equity.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Sociocultural Attunement to Vulnerability in Couple Therapy: Fulcrum for Changing Power Processes in Heterosexual Relationships

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a result, gendered narratives still pervade heterosexual relationships, often implicitly (ChenFeng & Galick, 2015). For example, men internalize messages encouraging them to be independent, assertive, and strong and women are taught to be accommodating and self‐sacrificing (Knudson‐Martin, 2015; Samman & Knudson‐Martin, 2015). Heterosexual partners might enact these and other dominant discourses in their relationship, even when they strive for equality.…”

Section: Understanding Power In Couple Relationshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing power in couples therapy: Integrating socio‐emotional relationship therapy and emotionally focused therapy

Jenks,

Adams,

Young

et al. 2023

Family Process

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Romantic relationships are more satisfying and fulfilling when power is balanced relatively equally between partners (Leonhardt et al., Journal of Family Psychology, 34, 2020, and 1). Yet, few couples therapy models explicitly outline how to confront relational power issues (Knudson‐Martin & Huenergardt, 2015, Socio‐emotional relationship therapy: Bridging emotion, societal context, and couple interaction, Springer). Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT; Johnson, 2020, The practice of emotionally focused couple therapy, Routledge) is a well‐established, evidence‐based therapy modality that many therapists use with couple clients, yet despite its effectiveness, it does not provide direction for explicitly addressing and treating power differentials in couple relationships. In this paper, we explore the integration of EFT with Socio‐emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT), a model overlay that acknowledges the impact of social discourse on enactments of power in intimate couple relationships. We first address the importance of understanding power in couple relationships, addressing power in couples therapy, and provide a brief overview of SERT and EFT. We then introduce an integration of the models intended to help therapists balance power, increase connection, and secure attachment bonds between romantic partners.

show abstract

Engaging Power, Emotion, and Context in Couple Therapy: Lessons Learned

Knudson‐Martin

Wells

Samman

2015

Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Relational Engagement in Heterosexual Couple Therapy: Helping Men Move from “I” to “We”

Cited by 7 publications

References 26 publications

Sociocultural Attunement to Vulnerability in Couple Therapy: Fulcrum for Changing Power Processes in Heterosexual Relationships

Sociocultural Attunement to Vulnerability in Couple Therapy: Fulcrum for Changing Power Processes in Heterosexual Relationships

Addressing power in couples therapy: Integrating socio‐emotional relationship therapy and emotionally focused therapy

Engaging Power, Emotion, and Context in Couple Therapy: Lessons Learned

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About