Helping Couples on the Brink of Divorce
Discernment Counseling for Troubled Relationships
Steven M Harris author William J Doherty, PhD author
Format:Paperback
Publisher:American Psychological Association
Published:21st Mar '23
Should be back in stock very soon
New in paperback, this book presents a five-session protocol for distressed couples to learn about what has happened to their relationship and each person’s contributions to the problems, with the goal of clarifying a direction for their marriage.
Therapists and counselors can find themselves at an impasse when working with “mixed-agenda” couples—where one partner is considering divorce, while the other wants to preserve the marriage and start therapy. Such couples are a common and difficult challenge in clinical practice. To help confirm each partner’s agenda before taking decisive steps toward either reconciliation or divorce, this book presents a richly-illustrated protocol called discernment counseling, for helping couples understand what has happened to their relationship and each person’s contributions to the problems. The goal is to gain clarity and confidence about a direction for their marriage. Discernment counseling generally ends with a decision to divorce or a decision to engage in six months of couples therapy. Chapters cover special topics such as affairs and when one spouse has “fallen out of love” with the other.
Discernment counseling features individual conversations with the leaning-in and leaning-out spouse, along with carefully orchestrated times for each partner to share what they learned in the individual conversations. A special feature of the protocol is its short-term nature, with an initial commitment to just one session and a decision each time whether to do another session, up to five. This strategy invites both spouses to keep making choices to continue the work.
2017 Choice Outstanding Academic Title. This work is an exceptionally valuable and resourceful manual in that it elucidates protocols to be followed for each of the choices available to couples. It is strongly recommended for all professionals and students working with couples.
* Choice *
Students and lay professionals alike will find this resource very useful in how they view troubled relationships. * PsycCRITIQUES *
Doherty and Harris have produced a masterful protocol for use with couples where one partner is ambivalent about divorcing and the other is not: discernment counseling. These skilled clinicians guide marriage therapists in a very practical overview of the one-to-five sessions of discernment counseling to help couples decide whether to divorce, do couples therapy, or stay the same. This invaluable book will help couples therapists avoid ineffective marriage counseling and unnecessary divorce. -- Susan H. McDaniel, PhD, Dr. Laurie Sands Distinguished Professor of Families & Health; Director, Institute for the Family, Department of Psychiatry; Associate Chair, Department of Family Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY
Not all partners in conflict enter couples therapy for the same purpose. Doherty and Harris show how to use discernment counseling to create a common therapeutic focus when mixed-agenda couples enter treatment. Bottom line: Working with couples without discernment is a waste of time. -- Jon Carlson, PsyD, EdD, ABPP, Distinguished Professor, Adler University, Chicago, IL, and coeditor of The SAGE Encyclopedia of Marriage, Family, and Couples Counseling
ISBN: 9781433842696
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
229 pages