Handbook of Clinical Issues in Couple Therapy » (New Edition)

Joseph L. Wetchler, PhD, is Professor and Director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at Purdue University Calumet in Hammond, Indiana. He is a Clinical Member and Approved Supervisor of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). He has served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Family Therapy, the Journal of Family Psychotherapy, the Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, the Journal of GLBT Family Studies, the Journal of Marital & Family Therapy, and the Journal of Clinical Activities, Assignments & Handouts in Psychotherapy Practice. Dr. Wetchler is a co-editor of Handbook of the Clinical Treatment of Infidelity, Relationship Therapy with Same-Sex Couples, Clinical Issues with Interracial Couples, and An Introduction to Marriage and Family Therapy, and a co-author of the Family Therapy Sourcebook, 2nd Edition. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Indiana.

Insight into the current issues impacting couple therapy

The Handbook of Clinical Issues in Couple Therapy is a comprehensive overview of emerging issues that impact couple therapy, all in a single volume. While other guides concentrate more on the approaches themselves, this invaluable source provides the latest research and perspectives every clinician needs when dealing with challenging issues often found in practice. Practitioners get a clear view of the aspects of problems they must consider to be most effective when providing therapy to couples.

This carefully referenced book is divided into five important areas. The Handbook of Clinical Issues in Couple Therapy discusses in detail several of the most crucial aspects of each major issue. Biological and physiological issues include mental illness, addictions, and sex therapy. Traumatic issues deals with the difficult aspects of domestic violence and infidelity. Relationship issues reviews divorce therapy and remarriage. Sociological issues include the cultural, spiritual, and feminist aspects of therapy. The book also includes a helpful review on the training of couple therapists.

Issues explored by the Handbook of Clinical Issues in Couple Therapy include:

• how the objective biological processes of the brain affect interpersonal relationships
  
• mental disorders and marital discord
  
• how couple dynamics impact the immune, endocrine, and cardiovascular systems
  
• how medical problems affect a couple’s relationship
  
• addictions
  
• sexuality theory and therapy
  
• intimate partner violence
  
• post traumatic stress disorder and its effect on couple relationships
  
• the latest in infidelity research and treatment
  
• divorce therapy
  
• remarriage and cohabitation issues
  
• cultural issues
  
• same-sex relationships
  
• spirituality and religion
  
• feminism issues in couple therapy
  
• enrichment approaches
  
• premarital counseling approaches
  
• couple therapist training

The Handbook of Clinical Issues in Couple Therapy is valuable, insightful reading for couple therapists, family therapists, counselors, psychologists, social workers, pastoral counselors, educators, and graduate students.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Christopher J. Graver, PhD(Madigan Army Medical Center)
Description:Couple therapy is often viewed as a technique to benefit marriages and save relationships. This book expands upon that view and encourages readers to see couple therapy as a profound method to impact a wide range of personal issues. This material has been published simultaneously as the Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, Vol. 6, Nos. 1/2.
Purpose:The purpose is to provide information about couple therapy as a viable form of mental health treatment and to address common clinical issues that arise in its implementation.
Audience:The audience for this book includes clinical and counseling psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and other mental health workers who are involved with couple therapy. The editor has extensive training and scholarly work in marriage and family therapy.
Features:As would be expected from this type of publication, the text is organized into a series of articles. Readers familiar with peer-reviewed periodicals will find a familiar format that includes an abstract, introduction, chapter body, and conclusions. The first chapter is quite interesting in its links between therapeutic interventions and brain activation. Four more chapters address the interplay between physiological and psychosocial factors. Other major sections include traumatic issues, divorce and remarital issues, sociological issues, primary prevention issues, and training issues. The book addresses important issues, such as cultural competency in couple therapy, as well as issues that are perhaps not foremost in therapists' minds (e.g., therapy with cohabitating divorced couples). Other practical topics crop up towards the end of the book (e.g., premarital counseling in a church setting and the supervision of couple therapists). Figures or tables are almost nonexistent, which makes for dense reading, but the short chapters help to remedy this. Whereas some chapters have pertinent and current references, other chapters seem under referenced or contain few citations from this decade.
Assessment:This book has a clear practical and clinical orientation, while still devoting space to brief literature reviews. The subject matter is broad and pertinent, but often presented at a rather basic level. While seasoned clinicians may benefit from the updated literature reviews in some chapters, on the whole this book is better suited to students and fledgling therapists. Practicing clinicians would probably better spend their time reading select articles from the journal publication rather than purchasing the entire book.

Acknowledgments
Introduction (Joseph L. Wetchler)
BIOLOGICAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL ISSUES
Brain Biology and Couple Therapy (Thomas W. Roberts)
Couple Therapy in the Presence of Mental Disorders (Wayne H. Denton and Anna R. Brandon)
What's Love Got to Do With It? Couples, Illness, and MFT (Mary E. Dankoski and Shobaha Pais)
Couple Therapy and Addictions (Thorana S. Nelson and Neal J. Sullivan)
Current State of Sexuality Theory and Therapy (Joan D. Atwood and Emily Klucinec)
TRAUMATIC ISSUES
Conjoint Couple's Treatment for Intimate Partner Violence: Controversy and Promise (Eric E. McCollum and Sandra M. Stith)
Trauma and Couple Therapy (Lorna Hecker)
Two Roads Diverge in a Wood: The Current State of Infidelity Research and Treatment (Katherine M. Hertlein and Gerald R. Weeks)
DIVORCE AND REMARITAL ISSUES
Divorce Therapy in Context (Jerome F. Adams)
Remarital Issues in Couple Therapy (Marcia L. Michaels)
SOCIOLOGICAL ISSUES
Cultural Issues in Couple Therapy (Shruti S. Poulsen and Volker Thomas)
Fostering Strength and Resiliency in Same-Sex Couples: An Overview (Janie K. Long and Barbara V. Andrews)
Couple Therapy and Spirituality and Religion: State of the Art (Karen B. Hemlock and Gary H. Bischof)
Feminist Issues in Couple Therapy (Ann M. Prouty Lyness and Kevin P. Lyness)
PRIMARY PREVENTION ISSUES
Couple Enrichment Approaches (Jeffery H. Larson)
Premarital Counseling (Lee Williams)
TRAINING ISSUES
What Is Unique About Supervising Couple Therapists? A Beginning Answer (Cheryl L. Storm)
Index
Reference Notes Included