Stories We Tell Ourselves

This book is about the dynamics of intimate interpersonal relationships, how and why human pairings occur, what helps them function optimally and how therapists can intervene when they don't. The authors employ a multidimensional perspective that provides a variety of lenses through which intimate relationships can be viewed. The authors also offer a new model of couples therapy based on the mentalization model of treatment developed by Peter Fonagy. This book is aimed at those interested in the nature of intimate relationships as well as those wishing to expand their clinical skills, whether they are conducting one-on-one therapy with individuals struggling to establish and maintain intimate relations or are conducting conjoint treatment with troubled couples who have sought the therapist's assistance. The authors view relationships from a wide array of different perspectives: mentalization, attachment theory, evolutionary psychology, psychoanalysis, pattern recognition, and role theory. A mentalization based approach to couples therapy is clearly explained in a how to fashion, with concrete suggestions about how the therapist goes about clinically intervening given their expanded understanding of the dynamics of intimate relations.