Clinical Round Table 14 - More Than Just Stopping the Fight: Enhancing Positive Behaviors and Building Resilience in Couple Therapy

Most individuals begin their committed romantic relationships with an abundance of good feelings—yet many of these same relationships become significantly distressed over time. This distress often stems from the development of negative behaviors between partners (e.g., hostility) and fewer positive behaviors (e.g., closeness, validation; Weber & Baucom, 2022). For decades, the aim of couple therapy is often to decrease negative interaction patterns and increase positives ones (Epstein & Baucom, 2002; Christensen et al., 2020). Despite this goal, decreasing negative behaviors typically becomes a central focus of treatment, with less focus on enhancing positive interactions. This may be due to the frequency, intensity, and impact of negative interactions, or because the couple is facing chronic systemic stressors that warrant immediate attention (e.g., poverty, minority/race-based stressors). However, the absence of negative interactions does not automatically translate to improved relational intimacy (Gottman & Notarius, 2000). To optimize the impact of couple therapy, clinicians should seek to improve relationship closeness by encouraging partners to behave in ways that are not only less negative, but also more meaningful and rewarding—all while considering their unique contextual circumstances. Thus, this clinical roundtable brings together experts in couple therapy and relationship education who specialize in working with various diverse communities, including sexual, gender, and racial minoritized couples, low-income individuals, and military servicepersons. Consistent with the conference theme on advocacy of historically marginalized populations, this widely experienced panel will discuss: (a) the purpose of positive relationship behaviors, (b) how to enhance relationship behaviors within the context of the couples-specific treatment goals, (c) therapeutic recommendations to address barriers to increasing positive behaviors, and (d) how to adapt interventions to address the couple’s specific cultural and contextual circumstances. Ultimately, the panel will strive to provide a multifaceted clinical framework for how to help culturally diverse couples reap the benefits of close, intimate relationships.