Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy: The Dynamics of Emotion, Love, and Power

In Emotion-Focused Couples Therapy, Leslie S. Greenberg and Rhonda N. Goldman expand the framework of emotionally focused therapy for couples to focus more intently on the development of the self and the relationship system through the promotion of self-soothing and other-soothing; to deal with unmet needs both from the client's adulthood and childhood; and to work more explicitly with emotions, specifically fear, anxiety, shame, power, joy, and love. The authors discuss the three major motivational systems central to couples therapy--attachment, identity, and attraction and clarify emotions and motivations in the dominance dimension of couples' interactions.
The authors use a rich variety of case material to demonstrate how working with emotions can facilitate change in couples and, by extension, in all situations where people may be in emotional conflict with others. Greenberg and Goldman provide the tools needed to identify specific emotions and show the reader how to work with them to resolve conflict and promote bonding in couples therapy.