Relationships are not always easy. Many times conflicts appear within them that are difficult to resolve without professional help. For this, there is traditional behavioral couples therapy, which focuses on promoting changes that increase the well-being of the relationship.
After her, Comprehensive Couple Therapy (IPT) appeared, created by Jacobson and Christensen (1998). This type of therapy includes, in addition to promoting change, emotional acceptance of the other as an essential component. Let’s see what its characteristics, components, strategies are, as well as the empirical evidence that supports it.
Comprehensive Couple Therapy (IPT), also called Comprehensive Behavioral Couple Therapy (ICPT), was developed by Jacobson and Christensen (1998), and represents an evolution of traditional couples therapy. Specifically, These authors named it Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy
Jacobson and Christensen observed that traditional couples therapies, focused on promoting change in the members of the couple, produced positive therapeutic results in only 50% of couples. These traditional therapies used positive behavioral exchange strategies and problem-solving and communication training.
The authors opted for a new model of couples therapy, Comprehensive Couple Therapy, which in addition to including all of the above (especially the promotion of change), introduced a new element: the emotional acceptance of the other
Characteristics
We have already seen how Comprehensive Couple Therapy was born. But what exactly does it consist of and what are its characteristics?
This type of therapy It is based on the idea that the differences between the members of the couple do not have to be obstacles in the relationship These differences, furthermore, do not have to be intolerable. On the other hand, accepting the other will be an important step during therapy, which will be achieved when the person stops fighting to change the other person or to get them to be the way they want.
Comprehensive Couple Therapy, in addition, considers it important to visualize relationship conflicts as possibilities to promote intimacy between the couple. As one of the central elements of Comprehensive Couple Therapy we find the couple’s natural reinforcers, that is, those things or aspects of the relationship itself that produce well-being and pleasure in the couple.
These reinforcers can be found in the couple’s daily life, in their context and in their communication, and they promote empathy between the members of the couple, increasing well-being within the relationship. For its part, Empathy is also another of the central elements of Comprehensive Couple Therapy, and is used as a tool of acceptance and change.
Areas of intervention in romantic relationships
This type of therapy focuses on two areas of intervention: the area that promotes acceptance and tolerance of the other, and the area that promotes change.
1. Acceptance and tolerance
This first area focuses on two types of strategies: those that promote acceptance of the members of the couple, and those that promote tolerance of the other.
The first to be applied are those that promote acceptance, since the objective of Comprehensive Couple Therapy is that both members of the couple accept each other as they are; In the event that this is difficult or impossible to achieve, we opt for the second type of strategies, those aimed at ensuring that the members of the couple, at a minimum, tolerate and respect each other.
1.1. Acceptance
When we talk about the acceptance that Comprehensive Couple Therapy promotes, and by extension, the therapist who develops it, we do not mean that the members of the couple must accept absolutely everything about the other, unconditionally.
Rather, we speak of an acceptance of the other as he/she is, with his/her defects and virtues, as long as the virtues that we appreciate in him/her are superior to the defects, and therefore it is worth investing in that person. person.
That will always be a personal decision (the balance we talked about), but acceptance will also helps to see the positive aspects of the other, valuing them as they are, an imperfect being who also makes mistakes, but who is willing to love us as we are. That is, Comprehensive Couple Therapy is committed to a realistic vision of the other, and promotes emotional acceptance as a tool that favors therapeutic change.
1.2. Tolerance
As for strategies that promote tolerance of others, these are applied when the previous ones have not worked. Thus, Comprehensive Couple Therapy aims to enable us to tolerate our partner as he is, especially in those aspects that we do not like so much or that initially cause us some rejection They also promote respect for others.
2. Promotion of change
Change promotion strategies are focused, as their name suggests, on promoting change in both members of the couple. Said change (or changes) will help you understand the other person, as well as promote a healthier relationship and increase mutual well-being.
Many times, to move forward it is necessary to review what is happening in the present, and observe how past events have affected the relationship. to facilitate this change that resolves current conflicts and improves communication in the couple.
Within the change strategies of Comprehensive Couple Therapy, we find two types of components:
1. Behavioral exchange
Behavioral exchange is a type of strategy that has the objective of modify dysfunctional behaviors that appear in the relationship. Their modification will be aimed at establishing positive and adaptive behavioral patterns.
This type of intervention is carried out through instructions, which are carried out by the therapist through a fairly directive role.
2. Communication and problem solving
The second component within the area of change is training in communication and problem solving. This type of training has the objective of improving communication between the couple, previously analyzing how it communicates through its verbal and non-verbal language
On the other hand, the training also includes problem-solving strategies, which aim to provide the members of the couple with tools that allow them to manage their conflicts in a healthier way, without getting into absurd or especially intense fights.
It’s about listening and understanding each other before reaching the conflict. To achieve this, dialogue will be used a lot, and importance will be given to listening, putting oneself in the other’s shoes, empathizing, understanding, learning to communicate without reproach, etc.
Empirical evidence
Comprehensive Couple Therapy is a therapy that has empirical evidence for resolving couple conflicts and increasing the well-being of its members, although further research is needed since the studies available are rather scarce.
Specifically, it was Jacobson and Christensen, along with other collaborators, who carried out a series of studies to test the effects of Comprehensive Couples Therapy. These studies indicated that Comprehensive Couples Therapy is just as effective as traditional couples therapy (Traditional Behavior Therapy). In other studies they carried out, they also determined that the long-term effectiveness of Comprehensive Couples Therapy was superior to traditional therapy.
By citing this article, you acknowledge the original source and allow readers to access the full content.
This article has been reviewed by our editorial team at PsychologyFor to ensure accuracy, clarity, and adherence to evidence-based research. The content is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice.
