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APA Psychotherapy Training Videos are intended solely for educational purposes for mental health professionals. Viewers are expected to treat confidential material found herein according to strict professional guidelines. Unauthorized viewing is prohibited.
In Working With Couples Considering Divorce, Dr. William J. Doherty demonstrates his approach to therapy with couples who are thinking of dissolving their marriages. Dr. Doherty's therapeutic approach is to consider the viewpoints of each member of the couple individually, then to look at them as a unit, and to try to help them resolve the issues that seem to be leading them toward divorce. In this session, Dr. Doherty works with a couple who have been married for 12 years who have two children. The husband has recently moved out and they are considering divorce. Doherty is able to highlight their ambivalence and manages to get a commitment from each to work for 6 months in therapy before making a decision regarding the marriage. This powerful session is 90 minutes long and involves the therapist working with the couple together, with each partner alone, and then back together.
This demonstration represents a special approach to working with married couples where one or both spouses are considering divorce and are ambivalent about working to salvage their marriage. ("Marriage" here can be defined broadly to include couples who have made a public life-long commitment, regardless of gender and legal marital status.) Often these couples have not tried couples therapy, given it a serious effort, or have not seen a competent marriage therapist. (Many therapists treating couples lack training and experience in this challenging modality.)
William J. Doherty, PhD, is professor of family social science and director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at the University of Minnesota. He is a licensed marriage and family therapist and a licensed psychologist.
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