Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I. A theory of change -- ch. 1. Wanted : a wise and humble counselor -- ch. 2. A sensible, tested and effective approach to helping couples -- ch. 3. Making therapy a positive growth experiences for couples -- ch. 4. Addressing the couple's context -- Part II. Beginning counseling -- ch. 5. Pre-counseling interventions -- ch. 6. The intake -- ch. 7. After the intake -- Part III. Case studies in treatment planning -- ch. 8. The wounded but hopeful couple -- ch. 9. The cool virtues couple -- ch. 10. The enrichment couple -- ch. 11. The "should we marry?" couple -- ch. 12. The complicating factor couple -- ch. 13. The couple with a psychological disorder -- ch. 14. The high conflict couple -- ch. 15. The "accept the things I cannot change" couple -- ch. 16. The kitchen sink couple -- Part IV. Interventions within the sessions -- ch. 17. Session management -- ch. 18. HOPE interventions -- ch. 19. BOND with me -- ch. 20. Addressing hurts in relationships -- ch. 21. Forgiving and reconciling through experiencing empathy -- ch. 22. Reconciliation and rebuilding trust with couples -- Part V. Conquering the difficulties you'll face -- ch. 23. Assessing change throughout treatment -- ch. 24. Resistances, roadblocks and rabbit trails -- ch. 25. Counselors' negative reactions to couples -- ch. 26. Working with partners who have a trauma history -- ch. 27. Pornography use and internet sexuality -- Part VI. Concluding treatment -- ch. 28. Termination -- ch. 29. Post-counseling checkups -- ch. 30. It works, but is it true?.

List of Interventions. 3-1 Assessing personal character -- 3-2 Personal narrative of self as "hero" -- 3-3 Prayer for a hope and a future -- 3-4 Use of time-out to develop the "muscle" of self-control -- 3-5 Interview a supportive childhood friend or mentor -- 3-6 Creative building of personal strengths -- 3-7 Building a new strength -- 3-8 Self-care interventions -- 3-9 Insight-oriented interventions -- 3-10 Partner-assisted intervention (PAI) -- 3-11 Developing wisdom -- 3-12 Locating the warmth virtues in my relationships (worksheet) -- 4-1 Counselor cultural humility development -- Pre-counseling 5-1 creating a video of webcast and having a web presence -- Pre-counseling 5-2 written materials -- Pre-counseling 5-3 capturing essential assessment materials before the first visit -- Pre-counseling 5-4 online or paper screening items -- 6-1 Beginning the dyadic intake session -- 6-2 Dyadic semistructured oral interview -- 6-3 Video assessment -- 6-4 Their first homework : our four best ideas -- 6-5 Client feedback on the intake session -- 6-6 Individual intake sessions -- 7-1 Writing the intake report and treatment plan -- 8-1 Seven tips for a good apology -- 8-2 Exemplar relationship patterns or processes -- 11-1 Narrative of a better future -- 12-1 The five-minute date (Jen's favorite homework) -- 13-1 Our communication rules -- 14-1 The cool down contract -- 14-2 Time-out -- 14-3 Ways to soothe in difficult interactions with a mate -- HOPE 18-1 simple listen and repeat -- HOPE 18-2 Simple leveling and editing -- HOPE 18-3 love busters -- HOPE 18-4 TANGO communications skills -- HOPE 18-5 LOVE -- HOPE 18-6 TANGO-E -- HOPE 18-7 prayer interventions -- HOPE 18-8 focus on Christian virtues -- HOPE 18-9 positive active resending (PAR) -- HOPE 18-10 gratitude -- HOPE 18-11 a coke and a smile -- HOPE 18-12 love bank -- HOPE 18-13 reattributions for neutral (or negative) behaviors -- HOPE 18-14 videos of communication -- HOPE 18-15 stopping negative reciprocity -- HOPE 18-16 the confirmation bias experiment -- BOND 19-1 reflective processing worksheet -- BOND 19-2 empty chair for relational hurts outside of the relationship -- BOND 19-3 dreams -- BOND 19-4 personal relationship vision statements -- BOND 19-5 perfect relationship -- BOND 19-6 sharing psychological needs card sort -- BOND 19-7 exploring hurts from family of origin -- BOND 19-8 bonding through spiritual intimacy conversations -- BOND 19-9 writing hot love letters -- BOND 19-10 graphing their history of closeness -- BOND 19-11 sculpting intimacy/space in office -- BOND 19-12 CLEAVE -- BOND 19-13 insight into the distancer-pursuer pattern -- BOND 19-14 healthy ways to get needs for intimacy and independence met -- BOND 19-15 improving sexual intimacy -- BOND 19-16 vow making -- BOND 19-17 sojourning together -- HURT 20-1 forbearance -- HURT 20-2 stopping rumination -- HURT 20-3 making restitution -- HURT 20-4 decisions to get needs met elsewhere while the relationship is in the "relationship hospital" -- HURT 20-5 grace -- HURT 20-6 preventing hurts through soft start-up -- HURT 20-7 transforming emotion with emotion -- FREE 21-1 preparing for forgiveness -- FREE 21-2 dealing with resistances, fuzzy definitions and fears -- FREE 21-3 letter of apology -- FREE 21-4 REACH forgiveness -- FREE 21-5 reducing the injustice gap by making amends -- FREE 21-6 forgiving the self -- FREE 21-7 humility in self -- TRUST 22-1 increasing positive emotions through gratitude -- TRUST 22-2 creating positive shifts for change through small trustworthy actions -- TRUST 22-3 dealing with reinjury -- TRUST 22-4 psychoeducation on time and trust process -- 26-1 Identifying triggers in their relationship -- 27-1 Pornography use internet application -- 28-1 The Joshua memorial -- 28-2 Community follow-up -- 28-3 A final termination report -- 28-4 Final assessment -- 29-1 The six-month checkup.

"Bringing together new theoretical ideas and the latest clinical research, Jennifer Ripley and Everett Worthington have developed an empirically supported hope-focused approach to couple enrichment and counseling. In this volume Ripley and Worthington provide more than seventy-five previously unpublished interventions, illustrated through actual cases to demonstrate their effectiveness. Also included are all-new assessment instruments, worksheets for couples and other resources. Drawing eclectically from a variety of sources, including new work in positive psychology, Couple Therapy is compatible with various theoretical frameworks. While this book stands on its own, those who have used previous hope-focused books will find it to be an accessible and complementary addition to the counseling toolkit." -- Back Cover