Couples Therapy: an Adlerian Perspective. REPORT NO ISBN-0-932796-26-5 PUB DATE 89 NOTE 240P
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ED 346 398 CG 024 307 AUTHOR Kern, Roy M.; And Others TITLE Couples Therapy: An Adlerian Perspective. REPORT NO ISBN-0-932796-26-5 PUB DATE 89 NOTE 240p. AVAILABLE FROMEducational Media Corporation, P.O. Box 21311, Minneapolis, MN 55421 ($10.95). PUB TYPE Books (010) -- Collected Works - General (020) EDRS PRICE MF01 Plus Postage. PC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Counseling Techniques; *Counseling Theories; Counselors; Divorce; *Interpersonal Relationship; *Marriage; Marriage Counseling; Remarriage IDENTIFIERS *Adlerian Psychology ABSTRACT This book provides therapists with a theoretical base from which to view the dynamics of couples' relationships and the therapeutic process. The book's eight chapters are organized into three parts: "Adlerian Theory and Process"; "Therapeutic Interventions"; and "Special Issues in Marital Therapy." Chapter 1, Adlerian Marital Therapy: History, Theory and Process (William G. Nicoll) summarizes Adlerian theory on couples therapy. Chapter 2, The Initial Interview (E. Clair Hawes and Roy N. Kern) acquaints the reader with how the theory may be operationalized into practical procedures for conducting the first session with the couple. Chapter 3, Lifestyle of a Relationship (Maxine Ijams) provides the therapist with a process analysis and knowledge base of how to conduct the sessions to-follow as it relates to lifestyle analysis and toxic relationship issues. Chapter 4, Therapeutic Interventions in the Marital Relationship (E. Clair Hawes) provides communication and problem solving skills interventions. Chapter 5, Relationship Enbancement Programs (G. Hugh Allred and Bernard Paduska) assists the therapist to create strategies to help couples deal with toxic issues that evolve during lifestyle analysis and future therapy sessions. Chapter 6, Sex Therapy: An Adleriam Approach (Carol Davis Evans and Robert R. Evans) provides an overview of Adlerian theory, present day theory, and how the problems of couples in the arena of sex mirror the problems within the relationship. Chapter 7, Divorce Mediation (Brenda B. Even), discusses Adlerian principles related to divorce. Chapter 8, Working with Remarried Couples (Lynn K. O'Hern and Frank R. Williams) educates the therapist about additional socio-psychological principles for dealing with remdrried couples. (LLL) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** 4K A "PERMISSION10 REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL BEEN U S. DEPANTMENT OF EDUCATION IN OTHER THAN PAPER COPY HAS Vice d EducatsoNtI RIP* nrcri end ondrovement GRANTED BY EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER IERIC) Pon L5ocep<0 c True document has been reCoo<htced as recesvio from the Demon or orgsnqation Orson/sone it C Minor changes have Ceen made to improve repvoductron oultstv TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of vregoot opinions stated in this doCu. INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) mem tlo not necessanty febreSent 0441 OEPt positronoppotty ST COPY IV I: Couples Therapy: An Adlerian Perspective Editors and Authors Roy M. Kern Georgia State University E.Clair Hawes Counseling Psychologist British Columbia and Oscar C. Christensen University of Arizona 3 Couples Therapy: An Adlerian Perspective Copyright 1989 Educational Media Corporation® Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 89-80325 ISBN 0-932796-26-5 Printing (Last Digit) 9 8 7 6 5 4 321 No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form without the expressed permission of the publisher in writing. Manufactured in the United States of America. Publisher EDUCATIONAL MEDIA CORPORATION* P.O. Box 21311 Minneapolis, MN 55421 Production editor Don L. Sorenson Graphic design Earl Sorenson Acknowledgments Special thanks to all those involved in the publication of this book. Thanks to Robert Yeakle and David Hornbuckle for editorial and logistics assistance. For typing and editorial com- ments, special thanks to Mary Brooks and Anita Williams. And finally, special appreciation is extended to Richard Smith, Chair of the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services, Georgia State University, for providing student assistant sup- port when needed. iii Introduction Marital and couples therapy has developed into an exciting as well as difficult task, due to the massive changes in values and society in general. Twenty-five years ago, for example, the therapist would probably count on a couple who were con- templating marriage for the first time, struggling with their rela- tionship as it related to the marital experience or discussions focused on children and adolescents. Oh what a difference the years make! Now the therapist is faced with couples seeking assistance and who live together but are not married, who have been married not once but possibly three times in a span of ten years, or a couple who have been married for twenty-five years and are deciding on divorce. If this is not enough, one only needs to recognize or become aware of the social context further complicating the task of the therapist, such as dual career couples, AIDS, equality issues, substance abuses, sexual dysfunctions, economic pressures, career uncertainty and the diversifications related to the ethical and legal issues of surrogate parenting, artificial insemination and the innovative but questionable adoption options. The question then becomes one of can atheory and therapeutic process which was created some seventy-five years ago be relevant for the couples of the present? Can the Adlerian perspective be implemented within the context of today's con- cerns? More specifically, have the individuals who adhere to the Adlerian perspective refined and expanded the theoretical constructs into usable techniques for the therapists working with couples today? To address these foregoing questions, the purpose of this book is to acquaint the reader and practitioner with some of the most relevant knowledge availablerelatedto how Adlerian therapists working with couples are employing the approach. The author(s) of each section, beginning with theory and end- ing with working with remarried couples, are practicing clini- cians with a mean average of actual therapy time with couples of seventeen years. Couples Therapy: An Adlerian Perspective, however, is more than theory and techniques. The contributors see it more as a social responsibility to put in print their ideas so that their years of learning, experience and application of Adler's ideas may enrich the therapeutic experience for other couples and their families. Contributors Editors and Authors Roy M. Kern is a professor in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services and is the Coordinator of the Family Education Center at Georgia State University. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist, AAMFT Approved Supervisor and has lectured and taught throughout North America and Europe. Roy has served as a consultant for numerous organizations and has authored several articles and a book, Case for Adlerian Counseling. He has led the research and development of instru- ments that measure the Adlerian concept of Lifestyle(the Wheeler, Kern, Curlette Lifestyle Personality Inventory and the Kern Lifestyle Scale). E. Clair Hawes is a Counseling Psychologist and has been in pri- vate practice specializing in marriage therapy for 16 years. She has authored several articles and books on marriage counsel- ing, marriage enrichment and the family and has lectured and taught throughout North American and Europe on marriage therapy and related issues. Clair is a Sessional Clinical Instructor for the Department of Counseling Psychology at the University of British Columbia. Oscar C. Christensen is a professor in the Department of Coun- seling and Guidance at the University of Arizona and con- sidered by many as one of the most highly regarded Adlerian practitioners in North America and Europe. This fact is not only documented by his text, Adlerian Family Counseling, but also by the several contributors in the text who have completed degrees under his supervision. Oscar is best known for his ability not only to write about Adlerian principles, but his ability to present these principles through live demonstrations. G. Hugh Allred, Professor of marriage and family therapy at Brigham Young University and a Fellow and Approved Super- visor of therapists with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, received his doctorate in counseling psy- chology from the University of Oregon. His major research in- terests include studying the interaction of husbandsand wives, parents and children, and therapists and clients,Hugh's most recent (1986) book was Teenager: A Survival Guidefor Mom and Dad. Dr. Allred has a private practice in individual, mar- riage and family therapy. 7 vi Carol Davis Evans has a fulltime private practice in sex therapy, individual, marriage and family therapy and is a Clinical Super- visor with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. She received her doctorate in counseling and guid- ance from the University of Arizona, is the pastpresident of the Arizona division of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and has had clinical training with Masters and Johnson. Carol is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Univer- sity of Arizona and is Co Director of the Family Therapy Training Institute of Tucson. Robert R. Evans is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Arizona