Strengthening Couple Relationships For Optimal Child Development

This book presents cutting-edge research and theory on couple relationships, with an emphasis on the implications for child development. It demonstrates the influence of couple relationships on parenting processes and child development; explores the determinants of couple functioning, relationship satisfaction, and relationship stability; and, details the mechanisms by which marital difficulties impact children's development and functioning.

This book presents cutting-edge research and theory on couple relationships, with an emphasis on the implications for child development. It demonstrates the influence of couple relationships on parenting processes and child development; explores the determinants of couple functioning, relationship satisfaction, and relationship stability; and, details the mechanisms by which marital difficulties impact children's development and functioning.

This book is a challenge to the silos in our human services that an ‘atomised’ focus gives rise to. They are evident in the chasm that can exist between child and adult mental health care, between competing therapeutic approaches and, most importantly for this volume, in the segmentation of support for adults who are partners as well as parents. The contributors, all with substantial experience of providing front-line services, identify the problem their intervention is designed to address, provide a conceptual justification for the approach they have used and supply evidence for its effectiveness. Vivid illustrations bring the work to life and provide examples of best practice whose relevance can readily be transported to different settings. Unusual in bringing together approaches that encompass internal and external realities in responding to the challenges of physical constraint, emotional distress and an often-volatile social environment, the contributions are assembled to highlight a common thread that can inform services at different stages of the life course. Each chapter is accompanied by a commentary from specialists in their field who elucidate and critique the key points made by the authors and help the experience of reading the book to be one of dialogue. Engaging Couples: New Directions in Therapeutic in Work with Families explores new ways of approaching some of the key issues of contemporary family life, including depression, living with long-term conditions, inter-parental conflict and domestic abuse to name but a few, refracting them through a lens that sees our relationships as fundamental to the fabric of our lives – the most important social capital of all. It represents essential reading for clinicians and family practitioners of all persuasions, and those that train and support them in their work.

This book is about the importance of the couple relationship in the broadest terms. It draws on clinical researches into the inner lived world of adult couples, empirical developmental research into children and parenting, as well as the legal setting when relationships break down. It aims to bridge the inner and outer worlds, showing how our most intimate relationships have vital importance at all levels, from the individual and the family, to the social setting - and explores the implications for practice and policy. Above all, it is a book about applications of clinical thinking linked with research knowledge, as tools for front line workers and policy makers alike. It draws on the tradition of applied clinical thinking and research of the Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships, linking current thinking with the history of ideas in each area it covers, as well as considering implications for the future.

Moving into parenthood is typically a time of great joy and excitement, but it also brings fatigue, stress, and conflict. From the authors of the best-selling Fighting for Your Marriage and A Lasting Promise, this unique and innovative guide offers indispensable advice on how to protect and preserve your marriage and take care of yourselves as you become parents. Based on scientific research and containing real-life examples, Becoming Parents challenges you to seize this opportunity to really thrive in your relationship and in parenting together as a team. "If you're having a baby, buy this book! It will give your baby the most important gift of all-parents who know how to keep their relationship happy, satisfying, and stable-the kind of relationship your baby can count on and learn from." --Diane Sollee, director, Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education

Learn how to work with and relate to the family of each child in an early childhood education program. Includes ideas about transforming the way schools and programs relate to families - each one according to their unique assets and needs with the goal of enriching and enlivening the school community and ensuring better outcomes for each child and the entire program. It will emphasize strategies for getting to know each family the way you get to know an individual person, and learn about their interests, their strengths, their style of interacting and their needs/challenges to encourage programs to move away from one-size-fits-all approaches to family engagement.

The guide is designed to help social workers and practitioners by offering a solution-oriented approach to the challenges of co-parenting among adolescents and young adults.

Now in a significantly revised sixth edition with 70% new material, this comprehensive handbook has introduced tens of thousands of practitioners and students to the leading forms of couple therapy practiced today. Prominent experts present effective ways to reduce couple distress, improve overall relationship satisfaction, and address specific relational or individual problems. Chapters on major approaches follow a consistent format to help readers easily grasp each model's history, theoretical underpinnings, evidence base, and clinical techniques. Chapters on applications provide practical guidance for working with particular populations (such as stepfamily couples and LGBT couples) and clinical problems (such as intimate partner violence, infidelity, and various psychological disorders). Instructive case examples are woven throughout. New to This Edition *Chapters on additional clinical approaches: acceptance and commitment therapy, mentalization-based therapy, intergenerational therapy, socioculturally attuned therapy, and the therapeutic palette approach. *Chapters on sexuality, older adult couples, and parents of youth with disruptive behavior problems. *Chapters on assessment and common factors in couple therapy. *Chapters on cutting-edge special topics: relationship enhancement, telehealth interventions, and ethical issues in couple therapy.