For therapists, counselors, and pastors, Couple Therapy offers a comprehensive, hope-filled, and research-grounded framework for transforming struggling relationships.

Developed by the creators of the Hope-Focused Couples Approach, this textbook combines evidence-based psychology with a Christian integrative approach, equipping practitioners at every level to guide couples toward lasting relational change. This unique approach drawing on positive psychology has helped thousands of couples repair emotional bonds and develop relational skills.

Written by licensed clinical psychologists and experienced counselors, Couple Therapy combines theory and realistic case studies in ways that easily integrate into the practices of counselors and researchers, as well as into the lives of couples. Rooted in decades of research, the Hope-Focused Couples Approach is both accessible enough for graduate students encountering their first cases and rich enough to sharpen the practice of experienced clinicians.

This book features:



- Robust assessment tools, worksheets, and practical interventions

- Insightful case studies on a wide range of premarital and marriage situations

- Practical resources for the whole counseling process, from pre-screening and intake to termination

- Christian values integrated with research-backed, evidence-based approaches

What's New in the Second Edition



- Updates incorporating the latest research and new insights from positive psychology

- New exercises for practitioners to use with clients

- A new companion video series

- Updated instructor resources for classroom use, including activities, audio lectures, videos, and more

Couple Therapy gives Christian counselors and therapists the tools, research, and hope-centered vision to walk alongside couples with confidence and compassion. See for yourself how the Hope-Focused approach helps couples find both motivation and clear pathways to reach their goals.

About the Series

Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) Books explore how Christianity relates to mental health and behavioral sciences including psychology, counseling, social work, and marriage and family therapy in order to equip Christian clinicians to support the well-being of their clients.



Everett L. Worthington Jr. (PhD, University of Missouri) is Commonwealth Professor Emeritus at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and former executive director of the Templeton Foundation's A Campaign for Forgiveness Research. He was the founding editor of Marriage and Family: A Christian Journal and is the author of seventeen books including Handbook of Forgiveness, Hope-Focused Marriage Counseling, and Forgiving and Reconciling.



Jennifer S. Ripley (PhD, Virginia Commonwealth University) is professor of psychology, Hughes Professor of Christian Thought and Mental Health, and codirector of the Charis Institute at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She is lead editor of Ministering to Families in Crisis and coauthor of Couple Therapy: A New Hope-Focused Approach.



Why You Need This Book

Part I: A Theory of Change



1. Wanted: A Wise and Humble Counselor



2. A Sensible, Tested, and Effective Approach to Helping Couples



3. Make Therapy a Positive Growth Experience forCouples



4. Addressing the Couple?s Context

Part II: Beginning Counseling



5. Pre-counseling Interventions



6. The Intake



7. After the Intake

Part III: Case Studies in Treatment Planning



8. The Wounded but Hopeful Couple



9. The Cool Virtues Couple



10. The Enrichment Couple



11. The "Should We Marry?" Couple



12. The Complicating Factor Couple



13. The Couple with a Psychological Disorder



14. The High Conflict Couple



15. The "Accept the Things I Cannot Change" Couple



16. The Kitchen Sink Couple

Part IV: Interventions within the Sessions



17. Session Management in the Hope-focused Couples Approach to Counseling



18. HOPE Interventions (Handling Our Problems Effectively)



19. BOND with Me: Bind Our Nurturing Devotion



20. Addressing Hurts in Relationships



21. Forgiving and Reconciling through Experiencing Empathy (FREE)



22. Reconciliation and Rebuilding Trust with Couples

Part V: Conquering the Difficulties You?ll Face



23. Assessing Change throughout Treatment



24. Resistance and Roadblocks



25. Counselors? Negative Reactions to Couples



26. Working with Partners Who Have a Trauma History



27. Pornography Use and Internet Sexuality

Part VI: Concluding Treatment Using the Hope-Focused Couples Approach



28. Termination



29. Post-Counseling Check ups



30. It Works, But Is It True?



"Worthington and Ripley provide an excellent toolkit that both novice and experienced social workers can utilize. The authors have clearly developed the hope-focused approach based on Christian principles. However, they also are sensitive to the ethical obligations that counselors have within the helping process not to misuse their power by imposing religious beliefs in treatment. If the couple is seeking Christian counseling, then the hope-focused approach includes clear intervention techniques that are explicitly Christian and utilize a worldview and language that most Christian clients would likely appreciate. If the couple is not religious, then the authors provide modifications to some of the interventions that the counselor would utilize. These modifications make the approach appropriate yet still effective for clients who are not seeking Christian counseling."



"As president of an organization with nearly fifty thousand Christian counselors, I am passionate about connecting those who help others with therapeutic approaches that are both evidence based and biblically sound. In Couple Therapy Ev Worthington and Jennifer Ripley present one of the top—if not the top!—marriage counseling approaches available today. This book is packed full of research, insights and over seventy-five new counseling and coaching techniques. A must for every licensed therapist, pastoral counselor, marriage coach, lay counselor and graduate student!"



"If you are looking for a book that integrates hope, faith and love with best practices in couple's work, this book is the one to buy. Couple Therapy: A New Hope-Focused Approach is an A to Z guide to successful couple treatment that is comprehensive and research based, but also filled with interventions and practical help. Worthington and Ripley have taken a good approach and made it great. Speaking as a licensed marriage and family therapist for over thirty years, this is a resource you need to add to your library today."



"Couple Therapy represents a unique, original and long-overdue contribution to the field of marriage counseling. In fact, this is indeed the most significant integrative resource for Christian couples therapy published in the twenty-firstcentury. From theory to first steps to case studies, worksheets and handouts to specific interventions, this clearly written book is a gold mine, a library of resources in one volume, giving counselors a practical road map. It builds on a strong biblical and theological foundation, is research informed, scientifically sound, empirically validated, evidence based and therapeutically rich. Both professional and pastoral counselors will find this an invaluable resource. Jen and Ev have given us aremarkable gift. It will touch your heart, stimulate your mind, increase your confidence and encourage your practice. Simply put: if you work with couples you need to invest in this book. It will be required reading of all of my students, and it will be a resource you will refer to often."



"Ripley and Worthington provide a text that is built on their previous work, and innovates in providing hope-filled interventions for clinicians and couples. I look forward to having my students use this book as a foundation for their training in working with couples. I also look forward to integrating these interventions into my own work with couples (and in my own marriage). Ripley and Worthington are building on the current research in attachment theory, cultural contexts impacting relationships and neurobiology. In addition, they are faithfully infusing Christian distinctiveness into these domains. What emerges is a text that assists clinicians to provide counsel based in current research, best practices and Christian virtues (e.g. Colossians 3). If you work with couples or teach graduate students how to do couples therapy, this book is a must for your clinical 'tool box.'"



"This book is a clear, organized, integrative and extremely pragmatic approach to couples counseling that helps therapists carefully tailor their treatments to couples' specific needs. Everyone from the novice to the experienced therapist can findsomething of great value in what these authors have to offer. Their attention to framing therapeutic tasks around couple strengths in order to better address deficits and, perhaps more importantly, give couples hope is particularly novel and thought-provoking. I found several appealing new strategies that I am looking forward to integrating into my own couples work; I am sure the reader will find many useful ideas as well."



"If you're looking for a solid resource to show you exactly what works and what doesn't in successfully counseling couples, look no further. This is the book. It goes far beyond theory and provides more than one hundred practical tools that are sure to find a place in your go-to repertoire of interventions. Every serious couples therapist will want to keep this book very handy."



"I readily recommend this book to pastors and Christian counselors. I can also recommend its use in courses on marriage and couple counseling at seminaries and Christian colleges and universities. In addition to an excellent text, instructor resources include video demonstrations, audio lectures, a testbank, chapter summaries, and a sample syllabus, all of which are helpful for education in the academy."



"The abundance and specificity of interventions offered is perhaps the greatest strength of this book. In this regard, this book is a goldmine for the beginning counselor or for the experienced counselor new to couples work. It can also serve as a treasure trove of creative and practical interventions that the experienced couples counselor can turn to for refreshment, inspiration, and new ideas."