ABSTRACT
In the United States, one-half to two-thirds of all first marriages are expected to end in separation or divorce (Castro-Martin and Bumpass, 1989), and subsequent marriages are even more likely to fail (Brody, Neubaum, and Forehand, 1988). Marital distress and dissolution have been shown to compromise the emotional and physical well-being of all family members. Marital and family therapists have firmly believed in the efficacy of marital therapy to address some of the problems that have been found to contribute to marital distress and divorce. Although marital therapy cannot help all couples to repair their marriages, and may actually help couples to separate, overall it has been proven to be helpful (Jacobson and Addis, 1993). Guided by social exchange theory (Thiabaut and Kelley, 1959), empirical research on marital interactions has identified behaviors that actually lead to a deterioration in communication and eventual divorce among couples. The following intervention draws on these research findings and attempts to utilize what we have learned about the predictors of marital distress and divorce to enhance the practice of marital therapy.
