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This path-breaking volume introduces Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy for clinical work with troubled couples. Practice-focused and engaging, it integrates real-world knowledge of the intersections of gender, culture, power, and identity in relationships with empirical findings on the neurobiology of attraction. Case examples detail the process of therapists in the moment as they develop both their clinical skills and their understanding of the social contexts fueling couples´ difficulties. Applications of the method, which can be used with same-sex couples as well as heterosexual ones, are shown in addressing infidelity, tapping into partners´ spirituality, and modeling and encouraging mutual respect and support.

Among the topics covered:

Undoing gendered power in heterosexual couple relationships.
Interpersonal neurobiology, couples, and the societal context.
How gender discourses hijack couple therapy-and how it can be avoided.
How SERT therapists develop interventions that address the larger context.
Building a circle of care in same-sex couple relationships.
Couple therapy with adult survivors of child abuse: gender, power, and trust.

Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy opens out practical new possibilities for marriage and family therapists, clinical psychologists, social workers, and counselors seeking ideas for more meaningful couples work.

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Bridging Emotion, Societal Discourse, and Couple Interaction in Clinical Practice.- Gender, Emotion, and Change: The Neurobiology of Emotions in Couple Therapy.- Gender, Emotion, and Change: The Neurobiology of Emotions in Couple Therapy.- Expanding the Lens: How SERT Therapists Develop Interventions That Address Larger Context.- Learning to Practice Socio-cultural Attunement in Couple Therapy.- Gender and Power Issues in Heterosexual Couple Therapy: Moving the Disengaged Male from "I" to "We".- Building a Circle of Care in Same-Sex Couple Relationships: A Socio-Emotional Relational Approach.- Resolving Gender and Power Issues in Couple Therapy with Adult Survivors of Child Abuse.- Relational Spirituality, Gender, and Power: Applications to Couple Therapy.- When Therapy Challenges Patriarchy: Working with Power in Heterosexual Couple Therapy.

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"The authors introduce SERT as a new model for addressing couples´ issues in therapy. They present several examples of how to integrate relational ethics, a sociocultural perspective with the role of emotions, neurobiology, and spirituality into couples´ well functioning and satisfaction. The book is written with practitioners in mind ... but it can be helpful for graduate students, especially at the doctoral level, looking for the best fit model for their practices." (Ileana Ungureanu, Doody´s Book Reviews, September, 2015)

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