Systemic marital therapy with one partner: A reconsideration of theory, research and practice

Abstract

This paper discusses the literature on systemic marital relationship interventions with one partner only. Increasingly, marital therapists and agencies offering services to distressed couples are seeing just one marital partner and need to consider methods of treating relationship distress within this mode. Some of the empirically established methods are described, as are general clinical issues. Reference is made to systemic and to a lesser extent psychodynamic theory relating to the treatment of one partner alone.