Hope-focused couple enrichment has been evaluated by a recent review (Jakubowski et al., 2004) to be one of four empirically supported couple enrichment interventions. We review the essence of the hope-focused approach for the therapist, and in doing so we present and discuss four possible reasons for the efficacy of the hope-focused approach. These include (1) a focus on hope, (2) a simple str...

Although 95% of married couples identify with a particular religion, there is great variation in how couples rely on their religion to define or structure their relationship. Various denominations will imply particular “rules” or will shape how the couple deals with interpersonal and family challenges, such as sexuality, parenting, and power. In this article, we review couple relationships with...

INTRODUCTION There is growing evidence that cancer affects couples as an interdependent system and that couple-based psychosocial interventions are efficacious in reducing distress and improving coping skills. However, adoption of a couples-focused approach into cancer care is limited. Previous research has shown that patients and partners hold differing views from health care professionals (HC...

Stepfamilies face a series of unique opportunities and challenges in their development. This article provides an overview of an emotionally focused family intervention for stepfamilies. Common stepfamily concerns are considered using attachment theory as a relational framework for conceptualizing the impact of structural change and loss on stepfamily adjustment. Problem patterns are understood ...

The similarity in efficacy of evidence-based couple therapies suggests that it may be useful to identify those treatment principles they hold in common. Expanding on the previous description of a unified protocol for couple therapy (Christensen, 2010), this article outlines five common principles: (a) altering the couple's view of the presenting problem to be more objective, contextualized, and...

In the present article the authors propose to modernize relationship therapy by integrating novel sensor and actuator technologies that can help optimize people's thermoregulation, especially as they pertain to social contexts. Specifically, they propose to integrate Social Thermoregulation Theory (IJzerman et al., 2015a; IJzerman and Hogerzeil, 2017) into Emotionally Focused Therapy by first d...