Evaluating Couples: A Handbook for Practitioners » (New Edition)

"The reader will find this book useful whether or not one agrees with Karpel's therapeutic style or clinical assumptions….[I]t succinctly reviews a lot of the basics about couples and about couple therapy, and suggests an attitude toward work with couples that we would all do well to incorporate into our own ongoing therapy. It will definitely be on my recommended list of resources and I am sure to quote liberally from its author."—Eleanor Macklin, Journal of Family Psychotherapy

Booknews

A detailed approach to clinical work with couples, providing specific recommendations on every aspect of the evaluation, including the initial call, the initial session, and treatment recommendations. Covers handling secrets, managing crises, and identifying personal and relational resources, and addresses problems areas such as sexual difficulties, violence, alcoholism, depression, extramarital involvements, and serious illness. Examines the "organizing forces" in couple relationships, including attachment, gender, sexuality, and the "unconscious matrix" of the relationship. Includes reading lists for therapists and couples. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)