Couples Therapy: Unravelling the Strands

Work with couples is one of the more widely practised forms of counselling or psychotherapy, yet seems to have found it difficult to establish its own identity and theoretical base. A theoretical tradition specific to work with the couple relationship has, however, developed over the past 40 years. Recently, this tradition has become more clearly demarcated and has begun to show signs of vigorous growth. It is important for therapists whose primary identification is with individual or family therapy, but who work with couples, to be familiar with this theoretical tradition, and with its practice implications. This paper selects six aspects of theory relating to couples therapy that the author has found useful in practice, and seeks to show how, separately and together, they can illuminate the nature and dynamics of the couple relationship.