ABSTRACT
There is no doubt that most people value their romantic partnerships, friendships, and family relationships and invest a good deal of time and energy into making them “work.” Nonetheless, as we saw in the previous chapter, most spouses, friends, and family members argue, disagree, and experience episodes of heightened confl ict and tension during the course of their relationships. When people become highly dissatisfi ed or suspect that their relationship is in real trouble-particularly in the case of romantic partnerships-some of them will seek assistance from a professional in hopes of determining whether or not their relationship is “workable” and preventing dissolution or separation from occurring (see Doss, Simpson, & Christensen, 2004).
