The High-Conflict Couple

In this book, a noted expert in the use of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in couples' therapy adapts a powerful set of emotion regulation tools into techniques for addressing relationship issues.

From The Publisher:

Some couples need more than just the run-of-the-mill relationship advice to solve their problems in love. When out-of-control emotions are the root cause of problems in a relationship, no amount of effective communication or intimacy building will fix what ails it. What these "high-conflict" couples need is help regulating the emotions that provoke the "escape or win" mode of interaction that has come to define them. This book adapts dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) into a powerful set of emotion regulation tools. Using mindfulness and distress tolerance techniques, readers learn how to deescalate conflict situations before they have a chance to flare into serious fights. Other techniques help partners in a relationship validate one another's experiences. Ultimately, readers who practice the techniques in this book will learn how to manage problems with negotiation, not conflict, and how to find true acceptance and closeness with each other.