Research Perspectives in Couple Therapy

Maria Borcsa Ph.D., Professor in Clinical Psychology at the University of Applied Sciences Nordhausen, Germany. She is an accredited Psychological Psychotherapist, Systemic Family Therapist, Supervisor and Trainer. As a professor she teaches systemic approaches in the following programs: Health and Social Services (B.A.), Social Management (B.A.) and Systemic Counseling (M.A.), the latter developed by her as the first-ever training program in this approach at a German university. She has been a co-editor of the Austrian-German journal "Systeme" (since 2001) and of the journal "PiD – Psychotherapie im Dialog”, Stuttgart: Thieme (since 2007). Since 2007 she has been a board member of EFTA - European Family Therapy Association, 2010 she was elected Chair of the EFTA-Chamber of National Family Therapy Organizations. Peter Rober Ph.D., Professor in Clinical Psychology at Leuven University (KU Leuven), Belgium. He is a family therapist, supervisor and family therapy trainer. His research focus is on family therapy and family communication (e.g. family secrecy, selective disclosure, dialogical space, …). He has written four books in Dutch and has published several articles in international journals on family therapy and qualitative research.

The Challenge: Tailoring Qualitative Process Research Methods for the Study of Marital and Family Therapeutic Sessions.- The Couple Therapy of Victoria and Alfonso.- The Development of Dialogical Space in a Couple Therapy Session.- Introducing Novelties into Therapeutic Dialogue: The Importance of Minor Shifts of the Therapist.- Fostering Dialogue: Exploring the Therapists' Discursive Contributions in Couple Therapy.- Dominant Story, Power and Positioning.- Latent Meaning Structures in Couple Relations: Introducing Objective Hermeneutics into Systemic Therapy Research.- Family Semantic Polarities and Positionings: A Semantic Analysis.- Constructing the Moral Order of a Relationship in Couples Therapy.- About Complexity, Difference, and Process: Towards Integration and Temporary Closure.

"First, the book is educational. It provides a brief overview of the theory and data analyses for a number of qualitative research methods that can be used to analyse the process of change in couple therapy. ... Second, the book prompts reflection on our own understanding of the process of therapy, the ways meaning can be found through conversational processes, and the ways in which discursive analyses help us enhance our understanding of change in therapy." (Jemima Petch, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, Vol. 38, June, 2017)