For couples undergoing marital distress, common interactional cycles between partners, such as criticizing and withdrawing, can obstruct the emotional engagement needed for secure bonding and partner validation. An important key in couple therapy is recognizing these patterns as they are occurring and from within a highly validating therapeutic relationship, exploring the underlying, negative emotional and interactional states, and then transforming them into more adaptive cycles that support healthier mutual understanding and bonding. In this video program, Dr. Rhonda N. Goldman demonstrates her approach to therapy in two sessions, each with a different couple experiencing a conflict marked by a pursuing and distancing cycle and covering deeper emotional wounds. By forming a strong emotional connection with the partners and applying the emotion-focused therapy method that integrates strategies from client-centered, Gestalt, and systemic therapies, Dr. Goldman seeks to help the couples with their unresolved emotional patterns and encourage them toward healthy, positive relational changes.
