Integral Couples Therapy: what is it and how does it work?

This type of couple therapy emphasizes accepting each other as they are.

Couple relationships are not always easy. Often conflicts arise within them that are difficult to resolve without professional help. For this there is the traditional couple therapy, behavioral in nature, which focuses on promoting changes that increase the welfare of the relationship.

This was followed by Integral Couple Therapy (IPT), created by Jacobson and Christensen (1998). (1998). This type of therapy includes, in addition to the promotion of change, the emotional acceptance of the other as an essential component. Let's see what are its characteristics, components, strategies, as well as the empirical evidence that supports it.

What is Integral Couples Therapy?

Integrated Couples Therapy (IPT), also called Integrated Behavioral Couples Therapy (IBCT), was developed by Jacobson and Christensen (1998), and is an evolution of traditional couple therapy. Specifically, these authors baptized it as Integrative Behavioral Couple Therapy (IBCT)..

Jacobson and Christensen observed that traditional couple therapies, focused on promoting change in the partners, produced positive therapeutic results in only 50% of couples. These traditional therapies used positive behavioral exchange strategies and training in problem solving and communication.

The authors opted for a new model of couple therapy, Integral Couple Therapy, which, in addition to including all of the above (especially the promotion of change), introduced a new element: acceptance and acceptance of the couple, introduced a new element: the emotional acceptance of the other..

Characteristics

We have already seen how Integral Couples Therapy was born. But what exactly does it consist of and what are its characteristics?

This type of therapy is based on the idea that the differences between the members of the couple do not have to be obstacles in the relationship.. Moreover, these differences do not have to be intolerable. On the other hand, accepting the other person will be an important step during therapy, which will be achieved when the person stops fighting to change the other person or to get him/her to be the way he/she wants to be.

Integral Couple Therapy also considers it important to visualize the conflicts in the relationship, also considers it important to visualize the conflicts in the relationship as possibilities to foster intimacy between the couple. between the couple. As one of the central elements of Integral Couple Therapy we find the natural reinforcers of the couple, that is, those things or aspects of the relationship itself that produce well-being and pleasure in the couple.

These reinforcers can be found in the daily life of the couple, in their context and in their communication, and favor empathy between the partners, increasing well-being within the relationship. On the other hand, empathy is also one of the central elements of Integral Couple Therapy. of Integral Couple Therapy, and is used as a tool for acceptance and change.

Areas of intervention in romantic relationships.

This type of therapy focuses on two areas of intervention: the area that promotes acceptance and tolerance of the other, and the area that promotes change.

Acceptance and tolerance

This first area focuses on two types of strategies: those that promote acceptance of the partners, and those that promote tolerance of the other.

The first to be applied are those that promote acceptance, since the objective of Integral Couple Therapy is that both partners accept each other as they are. that both members of the couple accept each other as they are.In the case that this is difficult or impossible to achieve, the second type of strategies are applied, those oriented to make the partners, at least, tolerate and respect each other.

1.1. Acceptance

When we speak of the acceptance promoted by Integral Couple Therapy, and by extension, by the therapist who develops it, we do not mean that the members of the couple must accept absolutely everything about the other, unconditionally.

Rather, we speak of an acceptance of the other as he/she is, with his/her defects and virtues, as long as the virtues that we appreciate in him/her are superior to the defects, and therefore it is worthwhile to invest in that person.

That will always be a personal decision (the balance we talked about), but acceptance also helps to see the positive aspects of the other, valuing him/her as he/she is, an imperfect being. helps to see the positive aspects of the other person, valuing him/her as he/she is, an imperfect being who also makes mistakes, but who is willing to love us as we are. In other words, Integral Couples Therapy is committed to a realistic view of the other, and promotes emotional acceptance as a tool that favors therapeutic change.

Tolerance

As for the strategies that promote tolerance of the other, these are applied when the previous ones have not worked. Thus, Integral Couple Therapy aims to enable us to tolerate our partner as he/she is, especially in those aspects that we do not like so much or that initially cause us a certain rejection.. They also promote respect for each other.

2. Promoting change

Change promotion strategies are focused, as the name implies, on promoting change in both partners. This change (or changes) will help to understand the other, as well as promote a healthier relationship and increase mutual well-being.

Often, in order to move forward, it is necessary to review what is happening in the present, and look at how past events have affected the relationship to facilitate that change to resolve current conflicts and improve communication in the couple. in the couple.

Within the strategies for change of Integral Couple Therapy, we find two types of components:

1. Behavioral exchange.

Behavioral exchange is a type of strategy that has the objective of modify dysfunctional behaviors that appear in the that appear in the couple's relationship. The modification of these behaviors will be oriented to establish positive and adaptive behavioral patterns.

This type of intervention is carried out by means of instructions, which are given by the therapist through a rather directive role.

2. Communication and problem solving

The second component within the area of change is training in communication and problem solving. This type of training is aimed at improving communication in the couple, by first analyzing how the couple communicates through their verbal and non-verbal language..

On the other hand, the training also includes problem-solving strategies, which aim to provide the partners with tools that allow them to manage their conflicts in a healthier way, without getting into absurd or particularly intense fights.

It is a matter of listening to and understanding each other before reaching the conflict. To this end, dialogue will be widely used, and importance will be given to listening, to putting oneself in the other's place, to empathizing, to understanding, to learning to communicate without reproaching, etc.

Empirical evidence

Integral Couple Therapy is a therapy that has empirical evidence for the resolution of couple's conflicts and the increase of the well-being of its members, although more research is neededHowever, further research is needed, since the available studies are rather scarce.

Specifically, it was Jacobson and Christensen, together with other collaborators, who carried out a series of studies to test the effects of Integral Couple Therapy. These studies indicated that Integral Couples Therapy is just as effective as traditional couple therapy (Traditional Behavior Therapy). In other studies they conducted, they also determined that the long-term efficacy of Integrated Couples Therapy was superior to traditional therapy.

Bibliographical references:

• Mañas, I. (2007). New psychological therapies: the third wave of behavioral therapies or third generation therapies. Gaceta de psicología, 40: 26-34.
• Morón, R. (2006). Comprehensive couple therapy. Journal of psychology and psychopedagogy, EduPsykhé, 5(2): 273-286.