ABSTRACT
The rich and multilayered tapestry of partners’ individual and relational histories create dilemmas for many couples presenting for therapy. Complimentary differences between partners that served as initial sources of attraction frequently become sources of distress, frustration, and isolation over time; likewise time magnifies and exaggerates early conflictual differences. A great many couples make countless efforts to solve their conflicts through behavioral change prior to entering therapy, and most have experienced the incredible frustration of realizing that their attempts to solve their problems have either not worked to their satisfaction or have ironically intensified the very problem they were attempting to resolve. Acceptance presents couples with an alternative stance to use in solving long-standing disagreements and a method for reducing distress associated with differences that are irresolvable through behavioral change. Integrative behavioral couple therapy (IBCT; Jacobson & Christensen, 1996) is an empirically validated (Christensen et al., 2004; Jacobson, Christensen, Prince, Cordova, & Eldridge, 2000), behaviorally based therapy that builds on this notion by cultivating and using acceptance in combination with behavioral techniques to help partners assume more collaborative stances that promote reconciliation and intimacy, and that can be used to address challenges frequently encountered by men during couples therapy.
