Treating patients who develop erotic transferences and working with one's own erotic countertransference create treatment and professional vulnerabilities for the therapist. Discussing sexual or loving feelings in therapy, while risky, can deepen or create emotional intimacy that no other aspect of human relatedness can accomplish. Clinical illustrations of various erotic dynamics between patient and therapist are presented as the author explores this important dimension of practice.

Intimacy is a complex and heterogeneous concept that has generated a variety of definitions, theories, and philosophies over the years. Al though there is much disagreement about the essential meaning of the term, there seems to be a consensus that intimacy, whatever it may be, is of central importance in human relationships, and specifically, in the theory and practice of psychotherapy. One approach to intimacy focuses on an intrapsychic conception. Intimacy occurs when an individual achieves full self-knowledge, and is fully in touch with his or her feelings and wishes. From this viewpoint, an intimate act occurs when a person is willing to share these feelings and wishes with another, so that self-disclosure becomes an important index of intimacy. This definition also implies that intimacy need not be reciprocal, so that a therapeutic relationship can achieve a good deal of intimacy without the therapist engaging in self-disclosure. An alternate approach to intimacy stresses the interpersonal nature of the concept. Intimacy is seen as the product of an interaction, and can only occur between people. Each one is able to touch something meaningful in the other, whether at a conscious, behavioral level or an unconscious and inferential level. Therapists seeking intimacy in these terms would probably be a good deal more active, and consider it more important to reveal something of the substance of their own persons, if not the facts of their lives.

"Even if you are not a couples therapist, chances are you have dealt with clients whose problems are based in relationship issues. In order to successfully treat these clients, you must first help them understand what their values are in these relationships, and how their behavior may be undermining their attempts to seek intimacy and connection. Combining elements of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and relational frame theory (RFT), ACT and RFT for Relationships presents a unique approach for therapists to help clients develop and experience deeper, more loving relationships. By exploring personal values and expectations, and by addressing central patterns of behaviors, therapists can help their clients establish and maintain intimacy with their partner and gain a greater understanding of their relationship as a whole. ACT is a powerful treatment model that teaches clients to accept their thoughts, identify their core values, and discover how these values are extended to their relationships with others. RFT focuses on behavioral approaches to language and cognition, and can help clients identify their own expectations regarding relationships and how they might communicate these expectations with their loved ones more effectively. This book aims to shed light on the thought processes behind intimate relationships-from the attraction phase to the end of intimacy-from a functional, contextual perspective"--.

Even if you are not a couples therapist, chances are you have dealt with clients whose problems are based in relationship issues. In order to successfully treat these clients, you must first help them understand what their values are in these relationships, and how their behavior may be undermining their attempts to seek intimacy and connection. Combining elements of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and relational frame theory (RFT), ACT and RFT for Relationships presents a unique approach for therapists to help clients develop and experience deeper, more loving relationships. By exploring personal values and expectations, and by addressing central patterns of behaviors, therapists can help their clients establish and maintain intimacy with their partner and gain a greater understanding of their relationship as a whole. ACT is a powerful treatment model that teaches clients to accept their thoughts, identify their core values, and discover how these values are extended to their relationships with others. RFT focuses on behavioral approaches to language and cognition, and can help clients identify their own expectations regarding relationships and how they might communicate these expectations with their loved ones more effectively. This book aims to shed light on the thought processes behind intimate relationships—from the attraction phase to the end of intimacy—from a functional, contextual perspective.

Deepening Your Personal Relationships was written by three experts in the field. Their combined expertise will help you in Developing Emotional Intimacy and Good Communication, which will be beneficial in all types of relationships. The book explains how to achieve healthy and fulfilling interpersonal relationships by using effective communication, empathy, shared transformational development, and constructive conflict resolution. Deepening Your Personal Relationships provides original, meaningful, and transformational insights that are especially helpful in understanding how to overcome our subconscious resistance against emotional intimacy and good communication. Readers wanting to enhance their personal relationships, gain insight into transformational self-help, and achieve social transformation will find this book especially helpful. It will also be of keen interest to professional relationship counselors, such as marriage counselors, family counselors, and conflict mediators. The goal is to understand how good relationships can produce enhanced levels of spiritual development, psychological healing, self-understanding, creative functioning, inner peace and happiness, and ultimately, fulfillment in life.

★ 55% OFF for Bookstores! ★Your Customer Will Never stop to use this Awesome Guide SAVE COUPLES! This book provides an explanation as to how and why couples therapy, different activities to enhance emotional and physical intimacy, and interpersonal and effective communication is so important and essential for your relationship. You will be guided through the process of learning how to listen to your partner's viewpoint and what activities and therapeutic practices you can do together to strengthen your bond. You will be introduced to different techniques and methods to enhance intimacy and better appreciate and understand one another. You will also learn about some of the most common stereotypes pertaining to couples therapy and if there is any truth to them. "Couples counseling" and "couples therapy" are usually considered to be the same thing. Although counseling for partners may be a wonderful way to bond with your spouse or fix any issues between the two of you, there are also ways to keep the flame going and ensure that the relationship is safe without needing to involve a therapist. There are several tools out there that rely on couples counseling ideas or tests. Just remember that it is never too late or too early to start working harder to improve your relationship. In order to further strengthen your relationship and prevent any divorce or breakup from occurring, there is no "best" behavior that partners can adopt because each couple likely has their own unique way of bonding. For certain couples, this might involve playing a sport together, enjoying board games or practicing the guitar. For some, when gazing up at the night sky or lying in bed at night, it could be a long talk that deepens their understanding of one another. Inside this book, you will learn about: What works in couples therapy A look into integrative behavioral and emotionally focused couples therapy Exercises to build and enhance intimacy, appreciation, and understanding Sex therapy with a sensate focus Imago therapy Partner yoga practices that can strengthen the romantic bond Myths about couples therapy Mindfulness as a tool to strengthen the relationship How to effectively communicate The formula for staying together And more... If you've been struggling with your partner or simply would like to improve your emotional and physical bond but don't know where to start, then this book is right for you. Get yourself a copy now - you won't regret it!

The PAIRS course acts as a kind of bridge between marriage education and therapy, working both with couples in healthy relationships hoping to improve intimacy, and with distressed couples trying to save their marriages. Building Intimate Relationships is an edited work with contributions from the creator of the PAIRS program and the most experienced PAIRS leaders. It describes the elements of the PAIRS course and discusses the application of the theories and techniques taught in the PAIRS program. Chapters include discussions on intimacy, communication, conflict resolution, emotional literacy, sensuality and sexuality, spirituality and gender issues.

Increase intimacy, connection, and love with this “critical” (Vanessa Van Edwards, bestselling author of Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People), science-based guide to creating meaningful and lasting relationships. When it comes to building a better relationship with your partner, touch and connection matter so much more than the words that you say. And author and therapist John Howard is here to tell us why. More Than Words shows you how to deepen love and connection in any relationship based on the latest cutting-edge research in interpersonal neurobiology, trauma-informed healing, attachment theory, and many more scientific fields. This “brilliant guide” (Diane Poole-Heller, PhD, author of The Power of Attachment) explains why verbal communication may not elicit the connection you seek and offers ways to practice and form new habits that can nurture love, care, safety, comfort, and passion in relationships. Science shows that these techniques work, but most people don’t know them yet. You can start using these techniques today to increase intimacy and emotional connection in your closest relationships. Mindful of all the needs of the modern individual, More Than Words is inclusive of LGBTQ+, polyamorous, and other nontraditional committed relationships and ultimately looks to elevate the way we strengthen the most important bonds in our lives.

The loss of intimacy is one of the most difficult—but also one of the most common—factors in the destruction of any relationship. Recovering Intimacy in Love Relationships lays out practical, evidence-based guidelines on which clinicians can depend as they wade through the intense emotions and fragile bonds of couples in crisis. With care and sensitivity, the book's authors analyze the increasingly complex context in which the cycle of intimacy develops, wanes, and recovers. The chapters delve into diverse populations' attitudes toward intimacy and provide an entire section on cultural, gender and religious issues. Clinicians looking for a research-based, practical take on the many facets of intimacy in the twenty-first century need look no further than this book.

Sexual attraction to a patient is an all but universal experience in therapy . . . and one that is an all but universally avoided topic of discussion among therapists. _Sexual Intimacy Between Therapists and Patients_ faces this complex and painful issue squarely. The authors--themselves experienced clinicians and researchers--draw together clinical studies, first-hand accounts, national surveys, legislation and case law, ethical standards, popular literature, and their own carefully gathered evidence, in order to provide all of the information currently available on patient-therapist intimacy. In this book, Pope and Bouhoutsos outline the varieties of sexual abuse and describe the "at-risk" patient as well as the "at-risk" therapist. They offer guidance on how to treat a patient who has been sexually abused by a former therapist. And they cover the broader social dimensions of the issue, including recommending changes in the education of health professionals and the role played by the legal system.