ABSTRACT

This chapter offers two case examples that depict the difference between a successful and a partially successful outcome of behavioral marital therapy. The two cases were selected to illustrate the importance of designing a treatment that gives the couple strategies to maintain treatment gains. In the first case, an innovative treatment approach contributes to substantial therapeutic improvement, but then a premature termination of the case results in posttreatment deterioration. In the second case, careful planning for the termination precludes a posttreatment relapse. In the therapist’s estimation, it was unfortunate that therapy was limited to the ten-week period. The most conspicuous omission in the therapeutic course was training in problem-solving skills. The positive behavioral data must be viewed in light of the more ambiguous self-report data. The improvement in global satisfaction most likely reflects the behavioral changes that had already occurred.