Name of the Strategy or Intervention
Affective reconstruction.
Introduction
Affective reconstruction (Snyder 1999) refers to the interpretation of persistent maladaptive relationship patterns having their source in previous developmental experiences. Affective reconstruction reflects an insight-oriented approach to couple therapy and presumes that an important source of couples’ current difficulties frequently includes previous relationship injuries resulting in sustained interpersonal vulnerabilities and related defensive strategies interfering with emotional intimacy. Hence, therapeutic approaches that fail to address developmental experiences giving rise to these vulnerabilities and their associated reactivities deprive individuals of a rich resource for understanding both their own and their partner’s behaviors that could help them to depersonalize the hurtful aspects of the couple’s interactions and to adopt an empathic stance.
Theoretical Framework
Diverse approaches to examining...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Alexander, F. (1956). Psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. New York: Norton.
Binder, J. L., & Strupp, H. H. (1991). The Vanderbilt approach to time-limited dynamic psychotherapy. In P. Crits-Christoph & J. P. Barber (Eds.), Handbook of short-term dynamic psychotherapy (pp. 137–165). New York: Basic Books.
Luborsky, L. (1984). Principles of psychoanalytic psychotherapy: A manual for supportive-expressive treatment. New York: Basic Books.
Messer, S. B., & Warren, C. S. (1995). Models of brief psychodynamic therapy: A comparative approach. New York: Guilford Press.
Snyder, D. K. (1999). Affective reconstruction in the context of a pluralistic approach to couple therapy. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 6, 348–365.
Snyder, D. K., & Mitchell, A. E. (2008). Affective-reconstructive couple therapy: A pluralistic, developmental approach. In A. S. Gurman (Ed.), Clinical handbook of couple therapy (4th ed., pp. 353–382). New York: Guilford Press.
Snyder, D. K., & Wills, R. M. (1989). Behavioral versus insight-oriented marital therapy: Effects on individual and interspousal functioning. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 39–46.
Snyder, D. K., Wills, R. M., & Grady-Fletcher, A. (1991a). Long-term effectiveness of behavioral versus insight-oriented marital therapy: A four-year follow-up study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 138–141.
Snyder, D. K., Wills, R. M., & Grady-Fletcher, A. (1991b). Risks and challenges of long-term psychotherapy outcome research: Reply to Jacobson. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 146–149.
Strupp, H. H., & Binder, J. L. (1984). Psychotherapy in a new key: A guide to time-limited dynamic psychotherapy. New York: Basic Books.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Gasbarrini, M.F., Snyder, D.K. (2017). Affective Reconstructive Approach to Couple Therapy. In: Lebow, J., Chambers, A., Breunlin, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_928-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_928-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15877-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences