Treating Difficult Couples Helping Clients with Coexisting Mental and Relationship Disorders

by Snyder, Douglas K.; Whisman, Mark A.

• ISBN13: 9781572308824
• ISBN10: 1572308826
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-05-22
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

This essential handbook describes effective treatments for a particularly challenging clinical population: couples struggling with both relationship distress and individual mental health difficulties. Distinguished scientist-practitioners provide detailed accounts of their respective approaches, reviewing conceptual and empirical foundations as well as clinical procedures. Included are well-established treatments for couples in which one or both partners has anxiety, mood disorders, schizophrenia, substance abuse, sexual dysfunction, or physical aggression. Also covered are emerging couple-based approaches to managing personality disorders, PTSD, difficulties related to aging and physical illness, and other problems. Following a standard format to facilitate comparison across treatments, each chapter is illustrated with detailed case material. Provided are powerful insights and tools for couple and family therapists, clinicians providing individual therapy, and students in any mental health discipline.

Author Biography

Douglas K. Snyder, PhD, is Professor and Director of Clinical Psychology Training at Texas A&M University. He has been recognized internationally for his programmatic research on couple therapy and is the author of the widely used Marital Satisfaction Inventory. In 1992, the American Association for Marital and Family Therapy honored Dr. Snyder with its Outstanding Research Award for his four-year follow-up study (along with Robert Wills) comparing behavioral and insight-oriented approaches to couple therapy, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. A Fellow of the American Psychological Association, Dr. Snyder has served as Associate Editor for the [i]Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology[/i] and [i]Journal of Family Psychology[/i], and as an editorial board member of [i]Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice[/i], [i]Journal of Clinical Psychology[/i], [i]Journal of Marital and Family Therapy[/i], [i]Journal of Marriage and the Family[/i], and the [i]American Journal of Family Therapy[/i].

Mark A. Whisman, PhD, is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research, which has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, has focused on the reciprocal association between relationship functioning and mental health. His other areas of interest include cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal perspectives on the onset, maintenance, and treatment of depression and relationship distress. A Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, Dr. Whisman has served as Associate Editor for [i]Contemporary Psychology[/i] and as an editorial board member of the [i]Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology[/i], [i]Journal of Family Psychology[/i], and [i]Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice[/i].

Table of Contents

PART I. EMPIRICAL AND CONCEPTUAL ISSUES IN MANAGING EMOTIONAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND HEALTH CONCERNS IN COUPLE THERAPY: AN OVERVIEW	1	(53)
Comorbidity of Relationship Distress and Mental and Physical Health Problems	3	(24)
Mark A. Whisman
Lisa A. Uebelacker
Tailoring Couple Therapy to Individual Differences: A Conceptual Approach	27	(26)
Douglas K. Snyder
W. Joel Schneider
Angela M. Castellani
PART II. COUPLE-BASED TREATMENTS FOR EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS	53	(178)
Anxiety Disorders	57	(31)
Donald H. Baucom
Susan Stanton
Norman B. Epstein
Depression	88	(26)
Steven R. H. Beach
Maya Gupta
Bipolar Disorder	114	(23)
David J. Miklowitz
Chad D. Morris
Schizophrenia-Spectrum Disorders	137	(22)
Kim T. Mueser
Mary F. Brunette
Alcohol and Other Substance Abuse	159	(22)
William Fals-Stewart
Gary R. Birchler
Timothy J. O'Farrell
Sexual Dysfunction	181	(20)
Lisa G. Regev
William O'Donohue
Claudia Avina
Physical Aggression	201	(30)
Amy Holtzworth-Munroe
Amy D. Marshall
Jeffrey C. Meehan
Uzma Rehman
PART III. ADAPTING COUPLE THERAPY TO INDIVIDUAL PROBLEMS	231	(186)
Borderline Personality Disorder	235	(26)
Alan E. Fruzzetti
Armida R. Fruzzetti
Paranoia	261	(24)
Kenneth G. Terkelsen
Narcissistic Disorder	285	(23)
Jill Savege Scharff
Carl Bagnini
Posttraumatic Stress	308	(22)
Susan M. Johnson
Judy Makinen
Childhood Sexual Trauma	330	(20)
Barry W. McCarthy
Mia Sypeck
Physical Illness	350	(20)
Gail P. Osterman
Tamara G. Sher
Gwen Hales
W. Jeffrey Canar
Reema Singla
Tracy Tilton
Aging and Cognitive Impairment	370	(22)
Sara Honn Qualls
Bereavement and Complicated Grief	392	(25)
Robert M. Wills
PART IV. INTEGRATION	417	(22)
Understanding Psychopathology and Couple Dysfunction: Implications for Clinical Practice, Training, and Research	419	(20)
Douglas K. Snyder
Mark A. Whisman
Index	439