Premium
Competencies for Addressing Gender and Power in Couple Therapy: A Socio Emotional Approach
Author(s) -
KnudsonMartin Carmen,
Huenergardt Douglas,
Lafontant Ketsia,
Bishop Les,
Schaepper Johannes,
Wells Melissa
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of marital and family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.868
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1752-0606
pISSN - 0194-472X
DOI - 10.1111/jmft.12068
Subject(s) - attunement , power (physics) , emotional distress , psychology , distress , cultural competence , psychotherapist , social psychology , developmental psychology , pedagogy , medicine , anxiety , physics , alternative medicine , pathology , quantum mechanics , psychiatry
Power imbalances between partners are intrinsic to relationship distress and intricately connected to emotional experience, couple communication processes, and socio cultural contexts such as gender. The ability to work with the power dynamics between partners is thus critical to the practice of couple therapy. However, few practical guidelines for dealing with this issue are available. The authors present seven clinical competencies regarding gender and power issues that they identified by examining their own work: (a) identify enactments of cultural discourse, (b) attune to underlying socio cultural emotion, (c) name underlying power processes, (d) facilitate relational safety, (e) foster mutual attunement, (f) create a model of equality, and (g) facilitate shared relationship responsibility. Each competency is illustrated through a case example. The competencies represent an over‐arching guide to practice that may be integrated with other clinical approaches and is particularly useful for training and supervision.