A Clinician's Guide to Maintaining and Enhancing Close Relationships

In the past 10 years, there has been a substantial increase in the number of theoretical and empirical investigations into the maintenance and enhancement of close, romantic relationships. This literature targets the everyday behaviors, expressions of love, and cognitive styles that characterize such relationships. Chapters provide a sampling of the expanse of topics in the domain of how clinical scholars and practitioners address the timely topic of maintaining and enhancing close romantic relationships, including marriage. A distinguished group of scholars and therapists discuss specific problems, such as alcoholism and therapeutic interventions, such as insight therapy. Topics include maintenance issues relevant to: depression, anxiety disorders, the role of children in affecting close relationships, how premarital therapy may serve as an antidote to early relationship problems, forgiveness, remarriage issues, and peer marriage. This volume is intended for practitioners in the field of close romantic relationships, such as marriage, family and relationship therapists, and clinicians.

John H. Harvey, Amy Wenzel

Contents: A. Wenzel, J.H. Harvey, Maintaining and Enhancing Close Relationships: Linking Theory With Practice. Part I:Theoretical Links to Practice.M. Masuda, S. Duck, Issues in Ebb and Flow: Management and Maintenance of Relationships as a Skilled Activity. A.L. Vangelisti, K. Maguire, Hurtful Messages in Family Relationships: When the Pain Lingers. L.J. Simms, The Application of Attachment Theory to Individual Behavior and Functioning in Close Relationships: Theory, Research, and Practical Applications. E.M. Cummings, M. Graham, Couples' and Childrens' Functioning in Families: Toward a Family Perspective on Relationship Maintenance and Enhancement. L.H. Ganong, M. Coleman, S. Weaver, Relationship Maintenance and Enhancement in Stepfamilies: Clinical Applications. Part II:Psychopathology and Close Relationships.S.F. Banawan, H.A. O'Mahen, S.R.H. Beach, M.H. Jackson, The Empirical Underpinnings of Marital Therapy for Depression. K.E. Larsen, M.W. O'Hara, The Effects of Postpartum Depression on Close Relationships. L.C. Jackson, A. Wenzel, Anxiety Disorders and Relationships: Implications for Etiology, Functionality, and Treatment. A. Wenzel, Characteristics of Close Relationships in Individuals With Social Phobia: A Preliminary Comparison With Nonanxious Individuals. S.L. Dolan, P.E. Nathan, When One Marital Partner Is an Alcoholic. Part III:Prevention and Intervention.N.D. Monarch, S.G. Hartman, S.W. Whitton, H.J. Markman, The Role of Clinicians in the Prevention of Marital Distress and Divorce. D.K. Snyder, Integrating Insight-Oriented Techniques Into Couple Therapy. F.D. Fincham, S.R.H. Beach, Forgiveness: Toward a Public Health Approach to Intervention. Part IV:Commentaries.P. Schwartz, Maintaining Relationships in the Millennium. L. Sperry, The Relevance of the Biological Dimension and Biopsychosocial Therapy in Maintaining and Enhancing Close Relationships.