Treating Relationships: Marriage and Family Counseling

by David H. Olson

One of the primary goals of this book is to help bridge the gap that often exists between the practitioner, the theorist and the researcher. A second goal of the book is to identify some of the major trends and findings from the various fields involved in treating relationships. Chapter describe and demonstrate some major perspectives and projects which are on the cutting edge of the field. It is intended for professionals who are involved in treating various types of relationships, whether they identify themselves as psychologists, social workers, marriage counselors, psychiatrists, family therapists or para-professional counselors. In addition to presenting papers on some of the more innovative programs around the country, it presents papers reviewing the evaluative research literature in a lucid way. There is evidence on whether couples in therapy do better than couples on waiting lists (they do-dramatically better), whether couples do better when seen conjointly than separately, whether individual therapy is more effective for building individual mental health but may actually be destructive of relationships. But beyond that there is a philosophy to the book, it is simple minded but often overlooked concept that couples are different and require differentiating diagnostic procedures leading to differential treatment procedures.

579 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

David H. Olson Ph.D. Psychology Relationships