ACT and RFT in Relationships: Helping Clients Deepen Intimacy and Maintain Healthy Commitments Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Relational Frame Theory - Softcover

Dahl PhD, JoAnne; Stewart PhD, Ian; Martell PhD, Christopher R.; Kaplan PhD, Jonathan S

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1608823342 ISBN 13: 9781608823345

Publisher: Context Press, 2014

Synopsis

Even if you are not a couples therapist, chances are you have dealt with clients whose problems are based in relationship issues. In order to successfully treat these clients, you must first help them understand what their values are in these relationships, and how their behavior may be undermining their attempts to seek intimacy and connection.

Combining elements of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and relational frame theory (RFT), ACT and RFT for Relationships presents a unique approach for therapists to help clients develop and experience deeper, more loving relationships. By exploring personal values and expectations, and by addressing central patterns of behaviors, therapists can help their clients establish and maintain intimacy with their partner and gain a greater understanding of their relationship as a whole.

ACT is a powerful treatment model that teaches clients to accept their thoughts, identify their core values, and discover how these values are extended to their relationships with others. RFT focuses on behavioral approaches to language and cognition, and can help clients identify their own expectations regarding relationships and how they might communicate these expectations with their loved ones more effectively.

This book aims to shed light on the thought processes behind intimate relationships―from the attraction phase to the end of intimacy―from a functional, contextual perspective.

About this title

About the Author

JoAnne Dahl, PhD, is professor of psychology at Uppsala University, Sweden. JoAnne is a clinical psychologist specializing in behavior medicine. She is coauthor of the The Art and Science of Valuing in Psychotherapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain, Living Beyond Your Pain, and ACT and RFT in Relationships.
 

Ian Stewart, PhD, is a faculty member in the school of psychology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He is coauthor of The Art and Science of Valuing in Psychotherapy and ACT and RFT in Relationships, and coeditor of The Self and Perspective Taking.

Christopher R. Martell, PhD, ABPP, is a licensed psychologist, and is board certified in clinical, behavioral, and cognitive psychology through the American Board of Professional Psychology. He is clinic director of the Psychological Services Center, and lecturer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Martell has coauthored eight books, and has authored or coauthored numerous articles and chapters on behavioral activation.

Jonathan S. Kaplan, PhD,, is a clinical psychologist and founder of UrbanMindfulness. org,. He specializes in the application of mindfulness and meditation to psychotherapy and maintains a private practice in New York City where he provides psychotherapy, professional training, and clinical supervision. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.

Robyn D. Walser, PhD, is codirector of the Bay Area Trauma Recovery Clinic, staff psychologist at the National Center for PTSD Dissemination and Training Division, and assistant clinical professor in the department of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. As a licensed clinical psychologist, she maintains an international training, consulting, and therapy practice. Walser is developing innovative ways to translate science into practice, with a focus on the dissemination of state-of-the-art knowledge and treatment interventions.

Review

“This is a fascinating account of love from the perspective of modern behavioral analysis. This book will get you thinking about yourself, your partner, and love in ways that you probably haven't thought of before. It brings scientific illumination to the candle lights of intimacy.”
―Andrew Christensen, PhD, is professor of psychology at UCLA, a cofounder of integrative behavioral couple therapy, and author of Reconcilable Differences
 

Edition details

• Publisher: Context Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1608823342
• ISBN 13: 9781608823345
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 296