Working with Relationship Triangles : The One-Two-Three of Psychotherapy

by Guerin, Philip J.; Fogarty, Thomas F.; Fay, Leo F.; Kautto, Judith Gilbert

• ISBN13: 9781572301436
• ISBN10: 1572301430
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-10-04
• Publisher: The Guilford Press

Summary

Text on the theory of tension existing between two people in a significant relationship and an outside force (e.g., an affair, memory, etc.). Guide for therapists on managing triangles in couples, families, or individuals.

Author Biography

Philip J. Guerin, Jr., M.D. and Thomas F. Fogarty, M.D., are both psychiatrists who trained at Georgetown University Medical Center, taught together at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and in 1973 founded the Center for Family Learning in Rye Brook, New York. This text celebrates more than 25 years of collaboration.

Leo F. Fay, Ph.D. and Judith Gilbert Kautto, ACSW, both trained at the Center for Family Learning with Guerin and Fogarty. Coauthors, with Guerin and Susan Burden, of the highly regarded Treatment of Marital Conflict, Fay and Kautto are recognized in their own right for their work on the extramarital affair. Dr. Fay is also an Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at Fairfield University.

Table of Contents

Relationship Triangles: Evolution of the Concept	1	(19)
A Historical Perspective	3	(17)
The Relevance of Triangles in Clinical Context	20	(17)
Three Types of Triangles	22	(7)
The Clinical Centrality of Triangles	29	(8)
Addressing Triangles in Therapy	37	(14)
Self-Focus	42	(4)
What a Triangle Is Not	46	(5)
The Structure of Relationship Triangles	51	(24)
How to See a Triangle	51	(7)
Dissecting a Triangle's Structure	58	(17)
Emotional Process within Triangular Structure	75	(18)
Seeing Relationship Process	75	(6)
Process Questions	81	(4)
Emotional Process and Triangles	85	(8)
The Interaction of Structure, Process, and Function	93	(13)
The Relationship of Structure and Process	93	(2)
Mechanisms of Triangle Activation	95	(3)
Figuring Out Function	98	(8)
Introducing Triangles in Individual Therapy	106	(23)
Using Triangles in Individual Therapy	109	(7)
Placing Individuals' Symptoms in Context	116	(7)
Indications for Work with Triangles in Individual Therapy	123	(6)
Coaching and Direct Intervention with Triangles in Individual Therapy	129	(20)
Cases that Present with Relationship Problems	130	(2)
Cases with Developmental Problems	132	(8)
Cases of Refractory Anxiety or Depression	140	(5)
The Therapy Triangle	145	(4)
Extrafamilial Triangles in Marital Conflict	149	(20)
The Extramarital Affair Triangle	151	(10)
Social Network Triangles	161	(5)
Occupational Triangles	166	(3)
Marital Triangles within the Family	169	(21)
Primacy of Attachment and Hierarchy of Influence	169	(2)
Displacement of Conflict	171	(1)
In-Law Triangles	172	(12)
The Primary Parental Triangle of Each Spouse	184	(3)
Triangles with the Children	187	(3)
Child and Adolescent Triangles	190	(14)
School-Related Triangles	190	(4)
Social Network Triangles	194	(4)
Symptomatic Child Triangles	198	(6)
Symptomatic Child and Adolescent Triangles within the Family	204	(18)
The Target Child	204	(3)
The Parent and Sibling Triangle	207	(2)
The Sibling Subsystem Triangle	209	(4)
The Three-Generational Triangle	213	(3)
Stepfamily Triangles	216	(6)
Conclusion: Becoming a ``Triangle Doctor''	222	(15)
The Pervasiveness of Triangles in Relationships and in Therapy	222	(1)
Methods of Management of Relationship Triangles	223	(11)
Summary and Conclusion	234	(3)
References	237	(2)
Index	239