Treating Difficult Couples

Douglas K. Snyder, PhD, LMFT, is Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Texas A&M University, where he also served as Director of Clinical Training for 20 years. Dr. Snyder has engaged in clinical practice and training of couple therapists since the 1970s, and is a clinical member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). He is coauthor or coeditor of several books for mental health professionals and general readers. Dr. Snyder has served as editor of the \Clinician’s Research Digest and as associate editor of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and the Journal of Family Psychology. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Contribution to Research in Family Therapy Award from AAMFT, the Distinguished Contribution to Family Psychology Award from Division 43 (Society for Couple and Family Psychology) of the American Psychological Association (APA), and the Distinguished Psychologist Award from Division 29 (Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy) of APA.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 and Behavioral Therapies, Dr. Whisman has served as Associate Editor for Contemporary Psychology and as an editorial board member of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Journal of Family Psychology, and Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice.

This is one of the most important books on couple therapy ever published. Snyder and Whisman's sophisticated yet accessible text signifies that couple therapy is no longer of value solely for explicit relationship problems. As this eye-opening volume makes clear, couple therapy is now a first-line intervention for a wide range of clinical problems traditionally thought of as 'individual.' This superb volume should be required reading not only for courses on couple therapy, but also for any course on the treatment of adult psychopathology.--Alan S. Gurman, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin Medical SchoolAt last, a book that tackles some of the issues that make certain couples hard to help. This is a book about couples in which the individual partners have their own problems, problems that interact with the couple's relationship. Everyone from graduate students to experienced clinicians will value the overviews of research and the practical guidelines on how to assess and treat the complexities of interactive individual and couple issues. This volume is going on my shelves in an easy-to-reach spot, so I can consult it when therapy gets stuck.--Kim Halford, PhD, Department of Clinical Psychology, Griffith University, AustraliaTreating Difficult Couples: Helping Clients with Coexisting Mental and Relationship Disorders is a definitive, state-of-the-art text that pulls together the latest research and clinical innovation on couple treatment for the major individual and relational problems of our time. This volume includes chapters from a veritable 'who's who' of well-known couple researchers and clinicians. The reader will discover definitively what is known, and what isn't, about couple approaches to emotional, behavioral, and other health problems. The special strengths of the volume include its integrative conceptualization of individual diagnoses and relational problems, its survey of relevant research, and useful case illustrations. This book is well suited as a text for use in clinical, counseling, and family psychology programs, as well as marriage and family therapy programs.--Susan H. McDaniel PhD, Department of Psychiatry and Wynne Center for Family Research, University of Rochester School of Medicine and DentistryFinally we have a book that provides an avenue to all the research on difficult couples. This is a book that should be on the shelf of every marital and family therapist. Provided are very practical, usable, and up-to-date reviews of all the major problems that are comorbid with marital distress. This book is a real winner!--John Gottman, PhD, Department of Psychology (Emeritus), University of Washington- This book is versatile and useful for systemically trained therapists and for researchers who wish to understand the connections between individual and relational disorders....This book will be useful to clinicians with all levels of training and experience. Further, it is a must for any clinician working in settings, such as medical facilities, where one is likely to encounter Axis I and II conditions comorbid with dysfunctional relational dynamics. --Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 5/24/2003

• Part I: Empirical and Conceptual Issues in Managing Emotional, Behavioral, and Health Concerns in Couple Therapy: An OverviewChapter 1: Comorbidity of Relationship Distress and Mental and Physical Health ProblemsMark A. Whisman and Lisa A. UebelackerChapter 2: Tailoring Couple Therapy to Individual Differences: A Conceptual ApproachDouglas K. Snyder, W. Joel Schneider, and Angela M. CastellaniPart II: Couple-Based Treatments for Emotional and Behavioral DisordersChapter 3: Anxiety DisordersDonald H. Baucom, Susan Stanton, and Norman B. EpsteinChapter 4: DepressionSteven R. H. Beach and Maya GuptaChapter 5: Bipolar DisorderDavid J. Miklowitz and Chad D. MorrisChapter 6: Schizophrenia-Spectrum DisordersKim T. Mueser and Mary F. BrunetteChapter 7: Alcohol and Other Substance AbuseWilliam Fals-Stewart, Gary R. Birchler, and Timothy J. O'FarrellChapter 8: Sexual DysfunctionLisa G. Regev, William O'Donohue, and Claudia AvinaChapter 9: Physical AggressionAmy Holtzworth-Munroe, Amy D. Marshall, Jeffrey C. Meehan, and Uzma RehmanPart III: Adapting Couple Therapy to Individual ProblemsChapter 10: Borderline Personality DisorderAlan E. Fruzzetti and Armida R. FruzzettiChapter 11: ParanoiaKenneth G. TerkelsenChapter 12: Narcissistic DisorderJill Savege Scharff and Carl BagniniChapter 13: Posttraumatic StressSusan M. Johnson and Judy MakinenChapter 14: Childhood Sexual TraumaBarry W. McCarthy and Mia SypeckChapter 15: Physical IllnessGail P. Osterman, Tamara G. Sher, Gwen Hales, W. Jeffrey Canar, Reema Singla, and Tracy Tilton Chapter 16: Aging and Cognitive ImpairmentSara Honn QuallsChapter 17: Bereavement and Complicated GriefRobert M. WillsPart IV: IntegrationChapter 18: Understanding Psychopathology and Couple Dysfunction: Implications for Clinical Practice, Training, and ResearchDouglas K. Snyder and Mark A. WhismanIndex