A Systematic Approach to the Evaluation and Treatment of Marital Problems

The collaboration of two persons of the opposite sex is a part of the natural sequence of human development and involves the integration of psychodynamic factors and group dynamics. Marriage can be classified into three general types: harmonious, adjusted, and disharmonious. The disharmonious group is classified according to the predominant security operations of the spouse into seven categories. The group dynamics are presented in terms of role functions following Spiegel\u27s (1957) classification of role discrepancies and role resolution, emphasizing the concepts of complementarity and equilibration. The diagnostic evaluation of the personality structure is outlined in terms of the operative level of the self-system and the predominant security operations in relationship to the spouse. The goal of therapy of marital problems is seen as the reestablishment of equilibrium in the marriage. The focus of treatment is on the marital interaction, with the adaptive functions of the ego being utilized to modify the security operations or ego defenses. Personality change is secondary to re-equilibration