The Limits of Quid Pro Quo in Couple Therapy

Bargaining Behind the Scenes

“…For instance, Weiss, Birchler, and Vincent (1974) introduced couples’ negotiation training by counselors but did little to empirically or conceptually describe how couples actually bargain and make decisions about their work and family roles. Couples’ negotiation is often brought up as a tool for clinical psychologists to help at-risk couples (e.g., Courtright, Millar, Rogers, & Bagarozzi, 1990; Sinclair & Monk, 2004; Tsoi-Hoshmand, 1975) rather than as a common occurrence between partners over important roles within the family.…”

Shaping of Marital Interaction: a Clinical-Research Approach

“…the partners can see the necessity for making specific in formation available to one another before undertaking remediation for the needy spouse (1973).• By the second session of the treatment program negotiation skills necessary for quid pro quo inter changes are introduced. This approach has been dis cussed elsewhere (Stuart, 1969;Homme, Csanzi, Gonzales, & Rechs, 1970;Lederer & Jackson, 1968;Tsoi-Hoshmand, 1975). The gs are taught to think in terms of behavioral changes each can make in return for changes in the partner.…”

Behavioral‐Systems Marital Therapy: Dealing With Resistance

“…These integrative therapeutic programs represent, for the most part, attempts by behaviorally oriented clinical researchers to increase the effectiveness and applicability of social learning approaches to marital and family dysfunction. Although considerable research provides empirical support for behavioral marital therapy (BMT) and its treatment components (2, 24, 25, 41), various limitations of the BMT approach have been noted by both behaviorally (1, 5, 42, 46) and nonbehaviorally oriented practitioners (12, 16, 17). Some of these limitations have prompted the current attempts to gain incremental treatment effectiveness by introducing certain “systems” concepts and interventions into the behavioral framework.…”