ABSTRACT
Jay Haley brings to the problem of the study of the process of psychotherapy his background as a communications expert. The article on marriage therapy which follows is not only a highly provocative account of the technique of marriage therapy but is also a splendid introduction to his entire conception of therapy. Marriage therapy differs from individual therapy because the focus is upon the marital relationship rather than the intra-psychic forces within the individual. Marriage therapy then becomes one of the few possible procedures. Marriage therapy would seem indicated when a patient has a sudden onset of symptoms which coincides with a marital conflict. Typically one spouse, usually the wife, seeks marriage therapy, while the other comes in reluctantly. Finally, marriage therapy is indicated when it appears that improvement in a patient will result in a divorce or in the eruption of symptoms in the spouse.
