ABSTRACT
Freedman and Combs (2015) describe a session in which the couple comes in with their own agenda. They describe one of their 'awful fights' (p. 292) and what they had done to learn something from the fight. An open-ended beginning may make an already uncomfortable situation even more uncomfortable. As the therapist one need to figure out how best to make the therapy session a safe place. Setting a structure that could enable the couple to participate fully is important. For example, there might be certain greeting rituals in the couple's background that one can observe. Then the therapist may need to describe what the focus for the session will be so that the couple knows what to expect. When the therapist have a couple from a different culture than their own, it is important to learn about that culture and some of its customs in order to be helpful to the couple.
