Couple Counselling

Martin Payne is an independent counsellor working mainly in GP surgeries. During his previous career in Further and Adult Education he found his work was increasingly focussed on assisting students who were experiencing problems in their lives. He trained in counselling at Colchester Institute of Higher Education and gained their Diploma in Counselling. He has completed Intensive Training in Narrative Therapy with Michael White in Adelaide, South Australia, and is the author of Narrative Therapy: an Introduction for Counsellors (Sage Publications: Second edition, 2006).

PART ONE: IDEAS AND PRACTICES Individual Counselling and Couple Counselling Narrative Therapy PART TWO: SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON COUNSELLORS AND COUPLES Culturally Formed Attitudes towards Couple Relationships Counselling Couples of a Different Sexuality, Age or Cultural Background from the Counsellor PART THREE: SESSION ORGANIZATION The First Joint Session Framework Subsequent Joint Sessions Subsequent Individual Sessions Advanced Practices PART FOUR: SPECIFIC ISSUES Tensions That Escalate to Crisis Point Problems with Friends and Family Members Sexual Difficulties Infidelity Violence and Abuse

'This book is well overdue and fills a gap in the market for accessible, pragmatic and sophisticated writing about therapy with couples. This book is inclusive, user-friendly and manages to make links with other approaches where others see divisions' - Mark Hayward Institute of Narrative Therapy 'I strongly recommend this book to any individual counsellor who wants to work effectively with couples, and also to any couple counsellor who wants to enrich their practice' - Barry Bowen, Systemic Psychotherapist