ABSTRACT
The case described below involved a couple who presented with problems related to substance abuse and over-extension at work. Therapy took place over a 13 -month period of time and included 31 sessions, which can be grouped into four major phases: (a) Reframing individual problems as problems in the relationship and establishing a mutually agreed upon goal for therapy; (b) Negotiating for change by clarifying what each spouse was willing to contrib-ute to the process of change; (c) First order change in the problem behaviors initially identified; (d) Second order change in the systemic emotional forces involved in the process of differentiation.
