In his description of collaborative couple therapy, Daniel B. Wile, Ph.D. says simply, “Fighting and withdrawing are inevitable in a couple’s relationship, but partners can become increasingly skillful in reducing their frequency, duration and damage, and even turn them into opportunities.” Dr. Wile explains that in couple therapy, he speaks for partners, translating their fighting or withdrawing into intimate conversations. His principles regarding therapy include looking at the “fight or withdraw” aspect of issues, taking on intimacy problems, developing a point of view that is detached, so that contentious dynamics may be studied with a dispassionate yet compassionate manner, and creating a place from which they can turn problems into occasions for intimacy.
Read the entire article here: A One Page Description of Collaborative Couple Therapy
