ABSTRACT
Clinicians working with couples and families invariably encounter issues that require active problem solving and negotiation. Often, couples and families either lack skills, insight, or inclination to negotiate in a mutual fashion. Instead, they convey the feeling and belief that bargaining is impossible. They sometimes characterize other family members as unable to understand or as just plain intractable. There are a whole host of interventions designed to help people negotiate. Clinicians may borrow from the problem solving literature (e.g., Jacobson & Margolin, 1979; Guerney, 1977), the marriage enrichment programs (e.g., Davis, Hovestadt, Piercy, & Cochran, 1982) or the communications literature (e.g., Gottman, Notarius, Donso, & Markman, 1976; Haley, 1971; Madanes, 1981). Many of these skill enhancement programs are quite successful (L'Abate, 1981).
