Abstract
Title: Couple Conflict and High-Distress Families: Theory and Intervention Strategies.
High levels of conflict between parents can have severe mental health consequences for children, regardless of whether parents are married, cohabiting, or divorced. However, various barriers—such as costs, logistics, and stigma—hinder parents from seeking help, and only a small fraction of Danish parents access relationship-oriented support like couple therapy. A promising preventive approach is to provide interventions that reduce conflict and distress among parents while they are still together. This approach is currently reflected in Danish policy through a pool of funds from the agency “Bolig og Socialstyrelsen” to offer statewide preventive couple counseling services for cohabiting parents with children under 18. This invited presentation introduces psychological theories and research that could inform policy efforts aimed at reducing couple conflict in high-distress families. It also explores potential challenges and pitfalls of such intervention strategies. The approach to intervention is based on the premise that maintaining intimacy and satisfaction in a long-term couple relationship is universally challenging due to partners’ differences, emotional sensitivities, external stressors, and negative interaction patterns. Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT) offers a model for understanding the type of struggles couple have and proposes intervention methods to reverse the loss of intimacy, reduce conflict and foster acceptance. The presentation will include research from the test of intervention strategies that use IBCT within a stepped-care model, providing personalized, client-centered support to meet the needs of each parenting couple.
High levels of conflict between parents can have severe mental health consequences for children, regardless of whether parents are married, cohabiting, or divorced. However, various barriers—such as costs, logistics, and stigma—hinder parents from seeking help, and only a small fraction of Danish parents access relationship-oriented support like couple therapy. A promising preventive approach is to provide interventions that reduce conflict and distress among parents while they are still together. This approach is currently reflected in Danish policy through a pool of funds from the agency “Bolig og Socialstyrelsen” to offer statewide preventive couple counseling services for cohabiting parents with children under 18. This invited presentation introduces psychological theories and research that could inform policy efforts aimed at reducing couple conflict in high-distress families. It also explores potential challenges and pitfalls of such intervention strategies. The approach to intervention is based on the premise that maintaining intimacy and satisfaction in a long-term couple relationship is universally challenging due to partners’ differences, emotional sensitivities, external stressors, and negative interaction patterns. Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT) offers a model for understanding the type of struggles couple have and proposes intervention methods to reverse the loss of intimacy, reduce conflict and foster acceptance. The presentation will include research from the test of intervention strategies that use IBCT within a stepped-care model, providing personalized, client-centered support to meet the needs of each parenting couple.
| Original language | English |
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| Publication date | 22 Oct 2024 |
| Publication status | Published - 22 Oct 2024 |
| Event | International workshop: Welfare policies and the everyday life of families - Roskilde University, Denmark Duration: 22 Oct 2024 → 23 Oct 2024 |
Workshop
| Workshop | International workshop: Welfare policies and the everyday life of families |
|---|---|
| Location | Roskilde University |
| Country/Territory | Denmark |
| Period | 22/10/2024 → 23/10/2024 |