According to Gottman (1999), "Current estimates of the chances of first marriages in the U.S. ending in divorce (within a 40-year period) range between 50% and 67%" (p. 3). Some couples seek marital therapy before they get to that point. Jake and Ann are a couple that did just that. They felt that their marriage was in trouble and decided to get professional help in hopes of improving their marriage. The case of Jake and Ann is examined in this paper, including the therapist's theoretical framework, case history, an in-depth look at three particularly significant therapy sessions, and results of the therapy and plans for future sessions.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework that the therapist used while counseling Jake and Ann was a combination of two approaches. The first approach is Gottman's Sound Marital House theory (1999). This theory is based on over 20-years of research on what successful couples do differently than unsuccessful couples. The Sound Marital House concept, which summarizes Gottman's research on what makes a marriage work, is made up of seven levels. The first three levels (cognitive room, fondness and admiration, and turning towards) all have to do with the marital …show more content…
Hudson and O'Hanlon stress the importance of acknowledging and validating each partner's experience and perceptions in the situation. The whole goal of exploring their situation is to identify way that the couple can change the "viewing" and "doing" of their situation (1991, p. X). Hudson and O'Hanlon teach couples to explain their situation (wants and don't wants) in videotalk (objectively), so that the couple's complaints can be transformed into action requests (changing the "viewing" of the couple's situation). Hudson and O'Hanlon also focus on changing repetitive patterns around problems in the couple's marriage (changing the "doing" of the couple's
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework that the therapist used while counseling Jake and Ann was a combination of two approaches. The first approach is Gottman's Sound Marital House theory (1999). This theory is based on over 20-years of research on what successful couples do differently than unsuccessful couples. The Sound Marital House concept, which summarizes Gottman's research on what makes a marriage work, is made up of seven levels. The first three levels (cognitive room, fondness and admiration, and turning towards) all have to do with the marital …show more content…
Hudson and O'Hanlon stress the importance of acknowledging and validating each partner's experience and perceptions in the situation. The whole goal of exploring their situation is to identify way that the couple can change the "viewing" and "doing" of their situation (1991, p. X). Hudson and O'Hanlon teach couples to explain their situation (wants and don't wants) in videotalk (objectively), so that the couple's complaints can be transformed into action requests (changing the "viewing" of the couple's situation). Hudson and O'Hanlon also focus on changing repetitive patterns around problems in the couple's marriage (changing the "doing" of the couple's