Master Conflict Therapy

Illustrated with case studies, this book teaches couples and sex therapists the comprehensive, integrative treatment approach of master conflict therapy (MCT), which combines psychoanalytic conflict theory and Bowen Theory with the basic principles and practice of sex therapy. MCT suggests that each partner has an internal conflict born out of their experiences from their respective families of origin. Partners then choose one another based on these conflicts, and it is only when they are out of balance that the couple experiences symptoms. The authors help clinicians treat couples through providing them with a solid theoretical foundation, a practical assessment procedure, and highly effective treatment techniques to re-balance a couple and, in turn, alleviate their sexual symptoms.

In the first book of its kind, Dr. Stephen J. Betchen teaches established and training marriage and family therapists to recognize the complexity and contradictions of control struggles in couples and, uniquely, how to clinically treat these issues to create a harmonious, long relationship. Integrating conflict theory, psychodynamic systems work, and the basic principles of sex therapy, the book aims to help professionals recognize and assess control struggles in couples, detect and examine their origin, and offer techniques to help break the struggle and alleviate its associated symptoms. Chapters begin by defining control and where the origin of control comes from before exploring how these origins and other sociocultural factors impact how we choose our partners. The book’s second half examines how clinicians should assess and treat couples with both sexual and nonsexual symptoms, how to avoid being caught in the control crossfire as a therapist, and how to terminate sessions and prevent relapses. Filled with case studies and useful interventions throughout, this book aims to help clinicians working with all couples across cultures and sexual orientations find a common ground. It is indispensable for training and graduate clinicians that work with couples, especially couples with sexual disorders.

Do you and your partner argue about the same things over and over again? Are you often confused about why your partner is so angry with you? Are things getting worse and worse even though you’ve tried everything you can think of to make them better? In this breakthrough guide to repairing romantic relationships, therapist and marriage researcher Dr. Stephen Betchen presents a powerful new explanation of what leads to this kind of escalating conflict in couples and how you can repair your relationship and find a whole new level of happiness. Based on his extensive experience as a couples’ therapist, Dr. Betchen has discovered that the prevailing idea that opposites attract is wrong. Instead, one of the strongest forces that attracts people to one another is that they share a hidden, inner conflict in their lives—an unconscious struggle within themselves that each of them developed growing up—which he calls a "master conflict." The fact that a couple shares a master conflict acts as an almost magnetic force of attraction, but, over time, master conflicts often begin to push a pair apart—many of the very things you most appreciated about each other start to grate on you, producing increasing hostility. The good news is that by identifying the master conflict that you share, you and your partner can take the steps to break the cycle of fighting and come to a new place of understanding and happiness in your relationship. Often, just the realization that you have this hidden conflict acts as a powerful cure, allowing you to appreciate each other once again and to be empathetic about the things that have been irritating you both. From his years of work with couples, Betchen has identified the nineteen most common master conflicts—such as getting your needs met vs. caretaking; giving vs. withholding; commitment vs. freedom; power vs. passivity—and for each he provides vivid stories of couples who have struggled with them, as well as simple tests that help you to: • Identify the core master conflict that is causing your relationship problems • Understand the origins of your conflict and how it drew you to your partner • Diagnose how the conflict is now pushing you apart • Come to new terms with the conflict to save your relationship As Dr. Betchen writes, knowledge of a master conflict is power, and Magnetic Partners is an empowering guide that will help you not only to identify and control your master conflict, but also to bring your relationship to a new level based on deeper understanding, ultimately leading to greater fulfillment and long-term resilience. Partners

In this 10th Anniversary text, Thomas M. Skovholt and Len Jennings paint an elaborate portrait of expert or "master" therapists. The book contains extensive qualitative research from three doctoral dissertations and an additional research study conducted over a seven-year period on the sameten master therapists. This intensive research project on master therapists, those considered the "best of the best" by their colleagues, is the most extensive research on high-level functioning of mental health professionals ever done. Therapists and counselors can use the insights gained from thisbook as potential guidelines for use in their own professional development. Furthermore, training programs may adopt it in an effort to develop desirable characteristics in their trainees.Featuring a brand new Preface and Epilogue, this 10th Anniversary Edition of Master Therapists revisits a landmark text in the field of counseling and therapy.

Stephen J. Betchen illuminates unmet expectations as one of the leading causes of relationship problems, offering an integrative, systemic, and conflict-oriented treatment model that will help both therapists and couples develop happier and more realistic relationships. This clinical guide helps therapists provide couples with the ability to recognize the origin of their expectations and when their expectations might be realistically or unrealistically too high or low. It defines and demonstrates the complexity of what met or unmet expectations are, identifying common symptoms as anger, incessant bickering, anxiety, disappointment, disillusionment, and sadness. Chapters outline how to determine the origin and impact of unmet expectations before discussing how and why we choose our partners that do or do not meet our needs. Addressing sociocultural factors in depth, Betchen provides tools to assess and treat both sexual and non-sexual symptoms and includes a chapter on how to manage the issue of when a therapist doesn’t meet the expectations of their clients. The book is invaluable for therapists who work with couples as well as trainees and supervisors in couple, family, and sex therapy graduate and post-graduate programs.

Systemic Sex Therapy, third edition integrates couple and sex therapy to inform the treatment of sexual problems and to give beginning clinicians the abilities and confidence they need to produce change in their patients’ lives. Grounded in the Intersystem Approach, the book considers the biology, psychology, couple dyad, family-of-origin, and larger contextual factors of any sexual disorder or issue. Each chapter examines the definition and description of a sexual disorder or issue, its etiology, assessment, treatment, research, and future directions. This thoroughly revised edition presents 18 updated chapters consistent with the DSM-5 and features new content on sexuality and aging, infidelity, sexual interest/arousal disorder, disability, and kink/BDSM. Experts in the field discuss all the major sexual dysfunctions along with new chapters on culture, technology, and their interplay with sexual functioning. An essential text in the field, Systemic Sex Therapy sets out a conceptual framework for graduate students in couple and family therapy programs looking to develop a comprehensive, integrative understanding of sexual issues.

You hear and read a lot about ways to improve your relationship. But if you've tried these without much success, you're not alone. Many highly reactive couples—pairs that are quick to argue, anger, and blame—need more than just the run-of-the-mill relationship advice to solve their problems in love. When destructive emotions are at the heart of problems in your relationship, no amount of effective communication or intimacy building will fix what ails it. If you're part of a "high-conflict" couple, you need to get control of your emotions first, to stop making things worse, and only then work on building a better relationship. The High-Conflict Couple adapts the powerful techniques of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) into skills you can use to tame out-of-control emotions that flare up in your relationship. Using mindfulness and distress tolerance techniques, you'll learn how to deescalate angry situations before they have a chance to explode into destructive fights. Other approaches will help you disclose your fears, longings, and other vulnerabilities to your partner and validate his or her experiences in return. You'll discover ways to manage problems with negotiation, not conflict, and to find true acceptance and closeness with the person you love the most.

This practical and scholarly new text presents a comprehensive review and evaluation of the theory, research, and practice of psychodynamically oriented brief psychotherapy. It offers in-depth discussions of the major clinical and theoretical approaches, as well as examinations of other special topics in the application of brief therapy. Locating brief psychodynamic therapies within larger contexts, Stanley B. Messer and C. Seth Warren illuminate the impact of psychoanalytic ideas and theories - as well as cultural, historical, and intellectual trends - on each approach.