The increasing demand for couples therapy and its present low success rate led to the question whether Glasser's reality therapy, with its innovative approach, could possibly be of value to couples therapy in South Africa. Glasser emphasizes the importance of healthy personal relationships, freedom of choice and responsibility. In therapy he focuses on the fact that each person has control of what he/she does and thinks and that he/she should take responsibility for it. On the basis of a limited qualitative study, it was found that, with certain reservations, this therapy could make a valuable contribution to the success of couples therapy. Professional persons should be encouraged to apply reality theory in couples therapy, training institutions should train their students in this regard and more comprehensive and in-depth research should be undertaken to determine its value in larger and more representative groups. / Educational Studies / M. Ed.

The increasing demand for couples therapy and its present low success rate led to the question whether Glasser's reality therapy, with its innovative approach, could possibly be of value to couples therapy in South Africa. Glasser emphasizes the importance of healthy personal relationships, freedom of choice and responsibility. In therapy he focuses on the fact that each person has control of what he/she does and thinks and that he/she should take responsibility for it. On the basis of a limited qualitative study, it was found that, with certain reservations, this therapy could make a valuable contribution to the success of couples therapy. Professional persons should be encouraged to apply reality theory in couples therapy, training institutions should train their students in this regard and more comprehensive and in-depth research should be undertaken to determine its value in larger and more representative groups. / Educational Studies / M. Ed.

This study explored the lived experiences of breast cancer survivors and their intimate partners. The research was informed by a social constructionist framework and phenomenological method of inquiry. While the body of literature on the physical, psychological, and social health of breast cancer survivors is growing, only a few studies have focused solely on the lived experience of survivorship and the uncertainty of recurrence. This study sought to explore the construction of meaning in the couples' context and experiences of surviving breast cancer. The present study examined how breast cancer survivors make meaning of their survivorship in context of living with the fear of recurrence. The researcher investigated the patients' and their intimate partners' experiences of survivorship to gain a better understanding of how their lived experiences affect their relationships to themselves and their significant other and how they cope with the uncertainty of recurrence. The study provided clinical implications for medical family therapists working with breast cancer survivors for couples managing the challenges with survivorship and uncertainty.

This dissertation evaluates the degree of "fit" in employing Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy [EFCT] within the context of congregational ministry and/or a Christian counselling center to counsel evangelical couples who have experienced an "attachment injury." The present study introduces and examines the possibility that, given an appropriate level of theological reflection, EFCT is an appropriate counselling methodology for use by evangelical clergy and counselors. Beginning with an examination of the values, assumptions and practices of EFCT this study explores three dimensions of the interface between EFCT and ecclesiastical practice: a) a theological reflection on the values and assumptions that inform the practice of EFCT; b) a comparison of EFCT with the marital counselling theories of Howard Clinebell, Jr., Larry Crabb, Jr., H. Norman Wright, and Everett L. Worthington, Jr., noting how each of these theories conceptualizes and treats both the marital dyad and emotional experience; and, c) an examination of Christians' perceptions of, and receptivity to, this model. The research demonstrates that the pastoral adaptation of EFCT highlighted in this study was rated favorably but not superior to the other four models. Specifically, it is noted that those who had previously experienced marital counselling, pastoral or otherwise, appeared to be attracted to the EFCT model as it was presented, even though the exemplar did not explicitly incorporate either the use of scripture, prayer, religious homework, or spiritual themes such as forgiveness and mutuality in marriage. The fact that even in the absence of an explicitly spiritual emphasis EFCT received high ratings suggests there is something within the model that speaks to the committed evangelical believer. The study concludes that even though EFCT may not be known within the evangelical community the perspective it offers "fits" with the values of this part of the Christian community and seems to appeal to those who have previously experienced marital difficulties. As a result, it may be stated that EFCT offers a mode of intervention that is suitable for use with evangelical Christians. / Practical Theology / D. Div. (Pracical theology)

Il presente lavoro di tesi si colloca all’interno della tradizione di ricerca nota come Empirically Supported Therapy Relationships, un modello d’indagine centrato sulla natura e sulla funzione della relazione al di là della contrapposizione tra ricerca sugli esiti e ricerca sul processo. I tre studi in cui si articola il lavoro assumono come focus d'indagine porzioni progressive del trattamento: la prima seduta, le prime due sedute, l’intero percorso. Nel primo studio sono messi a confronto differenti esiti terapeutici per verificare se le ricadute sul piano clinico del metodo interpretativo siano riconducibili ad un criterio di presenza/assenza o da ricercare nell’intreccio con altri fattori caratterizzanti il percorso di cura. Il secondo studio si propone di affrontare casi di interruzione prematura del trattamento, differenziati in funzione del raggiungimento o meno della stipulazione di un contratto terapeutico: l’obiettivo è quello di evidenziare le caratteristiche connesse alla diversa fase di abbandono del contesto di cura. Infine il terzo studio, nella forma del single-case study, è incentrato sui momenti di frattura dell’alleanza terapeutica lungo un intero processo terapeutico di quaranta sedute. / The present dissertation refers to the theoretical background known in the literature as Empirically Supported Therapy Relationships, a research tradition focused on the relationship and its nature, beyond the outcome and process research opposition. The three studies included in this work focused on different portions of treatment: respectively the initial intake session, the first two sessions, and the overall treatment. In the first study different outcomes were compared in order to examine if the effects of interpretations were connected to specific factors of psychotherapeutic process. The second study aimed to assess clinical cases of premature termination, differentiated on the basis of the contract attainment: the purpose was to depict specificities due to the different phase of dropping out. Finally, the third study was a single-case research examining alliance ruptures within an entire clinical process of forty sessions.

This dissertation evaluates the degree of "fit" in employing Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy [EFCT] within the context of congregational ministry and/or a Christian counselling center to counsel evangelical couples who have experienced an "attachment injury." The present study introduces and examines the possibility that, given an appropriate level of theological reflection, EFCT is an appropriate counselling methodology for use by evangelical clergy and counselors. Beginning with an examination of the values, assumptions and practices of EFCT this study explores three dimensions of the interface between EFCT and ecclesiastical practice: a) a theological reflection on the values and assumptions that inform the practice of EFCT; b) a comparison of EFCT with the marital counselling theories of Howard Clinebell, Jr., Larry Crabb, Jr., H. Norman Wright, and Everett L. Worthington, Jr., noting how each of these theories conceptualizes and treats both the marital dyad and emotional experience; and, c) an examination of Christians' perceptions of, and receptivity to, this model. The research demonstrates that the pastoral adaptation of EFCT highlighted in this study was rated favorably but not superior to the other four models. Specifically, it is noted that those who had previously experienced marital counselling, pastoral or otherwise, appeared to be attracted to the EFCT model as it was presented, even though the exemplar did not explicitly incorporate either the use of scripture, prayer, religious homework, or spiritual themes such as forgiveness and mutuality in marriage. The fact that even in the absence of an explicitly spiritual emphasis EFCT received high ratings suggests there is something within the model that speaks to the committed evangelical believer. The study concludes that even though EFCT may not be known within the evangelical community the perspective it offers "fits" with the values of this part of the Christian community and seems to appeal to those who have previously experienced marital difficulties. As a result, it may be stated that EFCT offers a mode of intervention that is suitable for use with evangelical Christians. / Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology / D. Div. (Pracical theology)