W. Kim Halford – författare

Cross-Cultural Family Research and Practice broadens the theoretical and clinical perspectives on couple and family cross-cultural research with insights from a diverse set of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, communications, economics, and more. Examining topics such as family migration, acculturation and implications for clinical intervention, the book starts by providing an overarching conceptual framework, then moves into a comparison of countries and cultures, with an overview of cross-cultural studies of the family across nations from a range of specific disciplinary perspectives. Other sections focus on acculturation, migrating/migrated families and their descendants, and clinical practice with culturally diverse families. Studies cultural influences in couple and family relationships Features a broadly interdisciplinary perspective Looks at how cultural differences affect how families are structured and function Explores why certain immigrant groups adapt better to new countries than others Discusses why certain countries are better at integrating immigrants than others

The majority of people, in cultures worldwide, seek fulfilment and happiness in marriage and couples relationships. Many mental health professionals now find they are increasingly consulted when such relationships encounter difficulties that threaten the wellbeing of the couples involved. The costs of such difficulties can be high, to society, to children and to other family members, in both emotional and economic terms. Psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, counsellors and social workers will find in this uniquely comprehensive handbook a critical review of knowledge in this wide field, as well as a guide to best practice in its many areas of intervention. The scope of the handbook includes an overview of healthy, normal marriage processes, the major influences on marital quality and stability, the interaction between individual adjustment, environmental events, and relationship satisfaction, and interventions designed to assist couples to enhance their relationship. The emphasis in the chapters which review research is on explicating the implications of current state-of-the-art knowledge for assessment and intervention with couples. Over half the book comprises detailed guidelines on how to conduct interventions for relationship problems. This includes work on different approaches to couples therapy, adapting couples therapy to the needs of couples in which one partner has significant individual psychopathology, working with just one partner, responding to crises initiated by extramarital affairs, mediating divorce, and working with families in which there are combined marital and parenting difficulties.

Grounded in extensive research and clinical experience, this indispensable book addresses the whats, whys, and how-tos of conducting effective marriage and relationship education. Leading authority W. Kim Halford reviews a range of contemporary models and provides an in-depth description of his own approach, Couple CARE. Session-by-session guidelines for therapists show how to help groups or individual couples—including those facing major life changes or stressors—foster closeness and communication, manage conflicts, and prevent common relationship problems. The book also explains how to use commercially available online assessment tools to help each couple develop their own relationship goals. It includes 35 reproducible handouts and forms.

This accessible guide details an evidence-based educational program to help couples adapt to parenthood while minimizing the inevitable stress on the relationship. Complete with content, rationales, activities, and client materials, its flexible format allows for home and office visits and phone/online support across the transition, starting during pregnancy and continuing into early infancy. Activities build on themes of caring, change, and cooperation as couples learn to identify and address sources of conflict, solve infant-care problems, and to become optimal partners as well as optimal parents. The book's hands-on presentation includes chapter highlights, boxed "Practice Tips" and "Clinical Connections" sections, client handouts and worksheets, and examples of clinician interactions with couples.The sessions described in Clinical Guide to Helping New Parents: The Couple CARE for Parents Program are organized to meet challenges and reinforce skills in key areas including:Developing realistic and shared expectations.Promoting positive communications and self-change.Conflict management communication skills.Developing sensitive and responsive parenting Reviewing personal and social support.Developing caring and healthy sexuality.Anticipating and preventing relationship deterioration.

This book provides a complete guide to self-regulatory couple therapy (SRCT), an innovative clinical approach that maximizes the couple's capacity for self-directed change. Presented is a flexible framework for treating couples effectively in as few as one or two--and as many as 25--sessions of highly focused work. Featuring step-by-step intervention guidelines and helpful clinical examples, the book demonstrates how to identify those couples for whom very brief therapy is possible, how to focus in quickly on the processes associated with relationship distress, and how to integrate additional therapeutic components for clients needing longer-term help.