Relationship Therapy with Same-Sex Couples

Use new knowledge of the LGBT culture to ably counsel same-sex couples!

Relationship Therapy with Same-Sex Couples provides psychologists, therapists, social workers, and counselors with an overview of the array of treatment issues they may face when working with couples from the LGBT community. This book highlights the experiences of therapists who have encountered concerns particular to LGBT clientsespecially those in intimate relationships. This intriguing resource covers clinical issues, sex therapy, special situations, and training issues for helping therapists successfully counsel same-sex couples.

Relationship Therapy with Same-Sex Couples explores the therapist’s role in working through universal issues in couples therapysuch as communication problems, infidelity, and decision-makingwith a focus on how therapy should differ for same-sex couples. This important guide also identifies which problems are unique to couples as an aspect of their sexual orientation, including gender role socialization and societal oppression. With this book, you will be able provide appropriate therapy without over- or under-attributing a couple’s problems to their LGBT status.

This book shows how experienced therapists have developed methods for working with:

• gay and lesbian parents
• heterosexual spouses and ex-spouses
• couples in HIV serodiscordant relationships
• lesbian bed death
• couple and family dynamics supporting transgender and sexual reassignment issues
• and more!

Relationship Therapy with Same-Sex Couples contains several features for you to utilize in your own practice, including the Sexual Orientation Matrix for Supervision (SOMS) to assist supervisors and trainers in preparing supervisees to work with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. The book also offers guidelines for heterosexual therapists who plan to work with same-sex couples and how to overcome any residual homophobia or heterosexual guilt. Lastly, this essential sourcebook reviews several articles, book chapters, books, and Web sites that are relevant to same-sex couples and the therapists who work with them.

Jerry Bigner, Joseph L. Wetchler