Helping Couples Get Past the Affair A Clinician's Guide

From leading marital therapists and researchers, this unique book presents a three-stage therapy approach for clinicians working with couples struggling in the aftermath of infidelity. The book provides empirically grounded strategies for helping clients overcome the initial shock, understand what happened and why, think clearly about their best interests before they act, and move on emotionally, whether or not they ultimately reconcile. The volume is loaded with vivid clinical examples and carefully designed exercises for use both during sessions and at home. The authors also describe ways to use their related self-help book, Getting Past the Affair,as an adjunctive resource for clients.

Donald H. Baucom, PhD, is Richard Lee Simpson Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His research focuses on couples and marriage. Through his approximately 175 publications, Dr. Baucom has helped to shape an understanding of the role of cognitions in intimate relationships, which has contributed to the development of cognitive-behavioral couple therapy. An award-winning researcher, teacher, speaker, and mentor, he maintains an active clinical practice working with couples and individuals around relationship difficulties. Douglas K. Snyder, PhD, is Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at Texas A&M University. Nationally recognized for his research on marital assessment and for his outcome research on marital therapy, he is the author of the widely used Marital Satisfaction Inventory. Dr. Snyder is a recipient of the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Contributions to Family Psychology, among other honors. In addition to his research and teaching, he maintains a clinical practice emphasizing couple therapy. Kristina Coop Gordon, PhD, is Associate Professor and Associate Director of Clinical Training in the clinical psychology program at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. She has served as Vice-President for Science of Division 43 (Family Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and is currently chair of its task force on empirically validated couple and family therapies. Dr. Gordon has authored numerous articles and book chapters on forgiveness, couple therapy, and dyadic processes, and maintains a clinical practice specializing in couple therapy.

I. Preparing for Treatment 1. Conceptualizing an Integrative Treatment for Affair Couples 2. Initial Assessment and Formulation 3. Creating a Therapeutic Environment II. Stage 1 of Treatment 4. Damage Control 5. Restoring Equilibrium 6. Addressing Emotional Upheaval III. Stage 2 of Treatment 7. Preparing the Couple to Examine Contributing Factors 8. Examining Relationship Factors 9. Examining Outside Factors 10. Examining Individual Partner Factors 11. Complex Affairs 12. Tying It All Together: Creating a Formulation of How the Affair Occurred IV. Stage 3 of Treatment 13. Addressing Issues of Forgiveness and Barriers to Moving Forward 14. Moving Forward 15. Concluding Comments