The cognitive-behavioral theory is a special type of therapy that can be used to change individual behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. Many people know that CBT can be used for individual development. However, it can also be applied in various situations such as couple and family therapy ( Dobson, & Dobson, 2018). CBT works by challenging the thoughts that individuals have that may be harmful to their well-being. Despite the fact that some people have been arguing that CBT is not effective in solving couple issues, I do believe that CBT therapy is an ideal method that can be used to assist couples to change their behaviors in ways that are beneficial to them.
The Problem Between The Couple
The couple had issues for a long time and decided to seek some therapy or treatment that could help them live a peaceful life together. The first problem is the couple had constant stress that was coming from their family members. From the manner the lady explained, the problems in their relationship were coming from external interference from their families. Their families always had clashing ideas on where they should stay, the type of house good for them, where they should go for vacations and many more. At one point, the lady recalls her husband’s family accusing her of not feeding her husband well and this brought a big issue between them.
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The second problem is that the husband was cheating. The wife complained that his husband was behaving suspiciously and was never allowing her to touch his phone. He complained that the husband was not giving her enough time and was always on his phone even in the house. To add, the husband said that his phone is personal and he cannot share it with anyone. For the past few days, they have been having problems over this and the wife thinks that this is happening because his husband is cheating. They even had a fight in the past week when the wife decided to pick a call from his husband’s phone. The husband said that she should never pick any call from his phone when called by any person.
Theory-Based Treatment And Interventions
The cognitive-behavioral theory (CBT) can assist in solving these issues that the couple has been experiencing. Through the use of CBT, the couple is going to understand and identify how their behaviors or thoughts are affecting their marriage life ( Dobson, & Dobson, 2018) . The intervention will be done in the following five stages;
1. Identification and acknowledgment of every individual’s expectations and perception. This is where the source of the issues will be identified after which I will work together with the couple in the definition of the treatment goals ( Benoit et al., 2019 ). At this stage, I will also help each individual communicate their thoughts and perspective.
2. Exploring counter-productive behaviors. I will help them avoid the ‘tit for tat’ behavioral pattern that just works to keep the cycle of hatred going on ( Dobson, & Dobson, 2018) . I will investigate the logic behind their behaviors and beliefs after which I will assist the couple to refocus and work together in building positive behaviors.
3. Agreements on acceptable tolerance ranges. This is where I will help the couple to overcome their differences in an understanding and respectful manner ( Benoit et al., 2019 ). I will remind them that conflicts are inevitable in any relationship but finding a respectful and healthy manner to address the disagreements is more important. Each person needs to be valued and feel heard.
4. Identification and practicing new behaviors. I will suggest this based on shared mutual respect, values, empathy, tolerance, and trust ( Dobson, & Dobson, 2018) . The relationship issues they have been going through will be changed into positive goals which I will use with other more intervention techniques to assist the couple in replacing the negative behaviors with positive thoughts.
5. Agreement on the new “emotional contract”. It will entail the various changes that each individual will commit and will act as the basis of future relations for them ( Dobson, & Dobson, 2018) . I will help the couple layout new terms in their relationship.
The short term goal is to enable the couple to work together in creating new boundaries on how they treat and tolerate each other. The long term goal is that the couple should actually have a peaceful relationship understanding each other after the treatment.
The theory-based intervention that I will use to justify my selection is called Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT). This is because it places focus on an individual’s present and future circumstances ( Dobson, & Dobson, 2018) . This approach also places focus on goals. This will support the treatment method suggested because it works on understanding the present nature of the couple’s relationship and building a future peaceful relationship. The anticipated outcome is a peaceful future relationship.
The second theory-based intervention will be family therapy. This is a type of intervention that works to assist members to improve communication and resolve their disagreements ( Benoit et al., 2019 ). It will be an appropriate intervention theory that will be appropriate since the couple is expected to be a great family in the future. The outcome is to help the couple solve their issues and build a peaceful family together.
Reference
Benoit, E., Cade, R., & Hermann-Turner, K. M. (2019). Behavioral and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Couples and Families. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/sc_pubs/208/
Dobson, D., & Dobson, K. S. (2018). Evidence-based practice of cognitive-behavioral therapy . Guilford Publications. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=yvBUDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=Cognitive-Behavioral+Therapy+&ots=705nq4x7Mn&sig=Xy0rdDZvT8niE40kK7a79a8URwI&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Cognitive-Behavioral%20Therapy&f=false
