ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses a variety of concepts that will enable clinicians to look at their clients and their problems from several angles. While the adult behavior and family structure models provide a foundational base for assessment, the relationship rollercoaster provides a developmental one for couples and families alike. The rollercoaster of relationships and the need to update the relationship contract map for us the larger developmental terrain of couple and family life. The chapter looks at the everyday stuckpoints that make it difficult to solve problems, it is usually a mix of three areas: communication, emotional wounds and differing visions. Communication is the first place that most couples and families get stuck solving their own problems; emotional wounds are the second. Being aware of emotions and labeling, using emotions as information, and realizing who has the problem, all lay the foundation not only for self-responsibility but also for honesty and genuineness.
