ABSTRACT
Most people want equitable, mutually supportive relationships, but few are able to attain these ideals. They fall into taken-for-granted patterns that limit relational options and personal well-being, usually without intending to do so. This chapter uses a case example to illustrate the Circle of Care, four orienting principles that help develop relationships based on equity and mutual support—mutual vulnerability, mutual attunement, mutual influence, and shared relational responsibility. The Circle of Care is at the heart of daily experience, not only in intimate couple and family relationships but also at work, in the community, and in the larger social sphere. This relational framework orients Socio-Emotional Relationship Therapy (SERT) and serves as a guide to clinical assessment and treatment planning that counters the limitations of individualistic societal discourse and transforms the effects of social inequities and power imbalances. The chapter offers assessment questions and guidelines that take into account the connections between power, sociocultural vulnerabilities, and relational process. The Circle of Care helps therapists and their clients keep a relational focus while practicing third order thinking that connects the dots between larger social influences and each person’s felt experience.
