Pre-Marital Counseling

A Guide for Clinicians

Angela Skurtu

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Topic: Psychology
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317572657
• Subtopic: Mental Health in Psychology
• Index: Psychology

A guide for therapists and counselors, Pre-Marital Counseling addresses the common problems couples face when starting or considering marriage. This step-by-step guide teaches specific intervention strategies for common pre-marital problems, such as financial stress, blending families, and mental health issues. It also teaches readers helpful skills such as developing empathy, learning to compromise, and communicating successfully, all within a potentially diverse client population. Skurtu further helps clinicians personalize their assessment and treatment plans for each couple so that they have realistic expectations. Written by a certified sex therapist, there is also a unique chapter on helpful sex education tips for maintaining desire in long-term relationships.

INDEX

6 Levels of Validation 40–41

accommodation, in negotiation 58

active listening 37–38

advice, scope and sources 3–4

age of couples 7

American Association of Marriage Counselors 3

American Association for Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT) 98

American Psychiatric Association 72, 91, 93, 94–96

Angera, J.J. 35–36, 37

apologies 60–62

applicability of counseling 7

appreciations 29–30

approachability 9

assertiveness, and empathy 42–43

assessment 11–17; background and contextual factors 13; developing trust 12; FOCCUS 17; interactional processes 14; overview 11; practice ideas 20; predictive factors 12–14; PREPARE assessment 15–16; professional tools 14–17; questions to ask 12, 13–14; RELATE Inventory 16–17; traits and behaviors 13

assumptions 71

attachment 24, 25, 71–72

attraction 25

author, background vii

avoidance, in negotiation 58

awareness: emotional 79; of needs and wants 79

Bancroft, J. 83

Basson, R. 86

below the belt comments 63–64

benefits, of counseling 5–6

blaming 78

Blow, A.J. 20

boredom 26

boundaries, in-laws and outsiders 108–110

Brenoff, A. 55

British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL) 83

Britt, S.L. 103

Bumpass, L. 27

business of 26–27

calming down 56–57

Carroll, J.S. 5

Carter, B. 26

Carvalho, J. 95

Center for Sexual Health Promotion 91

changing as people 69

Chapman, G. 28

children 106–108

Childs, G.R. 5

choices 1

choosing to love: context and overview 23; myths 24–27; working at 23–24; see also love

Clear, J. 45

cl...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Session One: Assessment and Treatment Planning
• Session Two: Choosing to Love
• Session Three: Being Empathetic
• Session Four: Fighting Respectfully
• Session Five: Asking for Needs and Wants Effectively
• Session Six: Keeping the Spark Alive
• Session Seven: Individualized Care
• Session Eight: Termination and Recommendations
• Index