Full Description
How does a couples' therapist actually run a 50-minute session? What needs to happen? What must happen? Managing this time and knowing how to guide a couple through what can be a rocky roller coaster ride is a critical skill. This volume breaks down the entire 50 minutes of a couple's therapy session from beginning to end. It divides the 50 minutes into eight time period stages that may overlap. The distinctive characteristics and challenges of each time period are examined. Numerous case examples are given throughout the book. The couples therapist is addressed directly with many suggestions given for handling the situations that can arise in each period. In addition, the couples therapist's own experiences during the session are explored.
Contents
Introduction Section I: THE LEAD-IN 1. Starting off Section II: BEGINNING: The First 5 Minutes 2. Introduction and Open-ended or Structured Beginning 3. Other Important Factors at the Beginning 4. Bad Beginnings Section III: FINDING DIRECTION: 5-10 minutes 5. Overview 6. Issues in Finding Direction Section IV: ESTABLISHING THE WORK: 10-20 minutes 7. Introduction 8. Set up for the Work 9. The Developing Work: Productive, Trouble or Unproductive? Section V: FULL STEAM AHEAD: 15-40 minutes 10. Introduction 11. Difficult Couples Therapy Sessions 12. Classic Couples Therapy Sessions 13. Special Types of Couples Therapy Sessions 14. Deeper Couple Therapy Sessions 15. Intervention Exercises Section VI: PULLING IT TOGETHER: 35-45 minutes 16. Introduction and "Ahas" 17. Further Issues to Consider During Pulling It Together 18. Case Vignettes and Example for Pulling It Together 19. Obstacles during Pulling It Together Section VII: ENDING: 45-50 minutes 20. Wrapping up Section VIII: LEAVING 21. Departing Section IX: SUMMARY CASE STUDY 22. Case Study
