ABSTRACT
This intervention includes moving couples from blaming each other to examining their individual responsibility for what they do and how it impacts on the marital system. In interactional terms, it is easy for couples to continue symmetrical escalations of blame. This pattern, however, does not allow individual positions to be examined or changed; each punctuation of the interaction begins with the other's distressing behavior and the speaker's "obvious" and "only" response. Interrupting the pattern by insisting on a different punctuation (beginning with self) can be powerful and beneficial.
