ABSTRACT
behavioral marital therapy has already come to be associated with a technology which includes 1) training couples in communication skills, 2) contingency contracting, and 3) the application of reinforcement principles to increase positive relationship behavior (Jacobson & Martin, 1976; Stuart, 1969; Weiss, Hops, & Patterson, 1973). A perusal of our table of contents suggests an encouragement of this tendency to define marital therapy as the application of these techniques to the problems of distressed couples. We devote an entire chapter to each of these three technological strategies. And it is true that our model, depicted in the previous chapter, suggests that certain general strategies will be applicable to a wide variety of distressed couples. For example, the notion that many distressed couples are ineffective at either solving relationship problems or modifying the behavior of the partner carries with it the implication that, given the existence of effective techniques designed to teach couples skills in either problem-solving or behavior management, these techniques will prove useful for a substantial number of such couples.
