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Couple Therapy:: Dramas Of Love And Sex

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This graphic novel, with extra therapists notes, allows you to sit in as three fictional couples enter the counselling room.

184 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2013

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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Profile Image for rossygram_.
630 reviews85 followers
June 6, 2019
BUENO🙂

Es un álbum ilustrado distinto a lo habitual, pues con él entramos en la intimidad de una consulta terapéutica y asistimos a las terapias de tres parejas que intentan mejorar sus relaciones de convivencia y/o sexuales.

"Terapia de pareja", de Ediciones Obelisco, relata tres historias ficticias que ilustran algunos de los problemas que las parejas y familias cuentan en las terapias, y cómo un terapeuta puede ayudar a resolverlos.

Está escrito por la consejera y asesora familiar y de pareja inglesa Barbara Bloomfield, quien, además, analiza los casos presentados en este libro con el profesor y terapeuta Rudi Dallos. Ambos comparten, en cada una de las tres situaciones que plantea el libro, ideas y técnicas para ayudar a resolver los distintos problemas, intentando mejorar las relaciones de las personas que acuden a la consulta.

El libro expone estos tres casos o situaciones:

1) los problemas de una pareja que hace poco que se conoce y espera su primer hijo
2) los problemas de un matrimonio con un hijo problemático
3) los problemas de una pareja que vive con la madre de ella

Como podéis ver son tres situaciones distintas que acaban afectando a las parejas de la misma forma: con problemas sexuales y de relación entre ambos, y cuyos problemas siempre acaban llegando por otros motivos a los que creen. Las tres parejas de los ejemplos del libro acuden a consulta para intentar comprender qué les fue mal y qué pueden cambiar para mejorar sus situaciones.

Las ilustraciones son del artista inglés Chris Radley.

Erratas encontradas: 0 (#CeroNuloNegativoConjuntoVacío) 🎉🎉
Author 3 books58 followers
December 28, 2014
Read the full review on Ermilia blog (with pictures).
http://ermiliablog.wordpress.com/2014...

I've been looking to read some great sexuality books and I found this book somewhere along my search. The main thing that tipped me over the edge to buy it was that it was a graphic novel; an educational graphic novel book that role-played sessions between couples and therapists. Their Goodreads description is 'This graphic novel, with extra therapist’s notes, allows you to sit in as three fictional couples enter the counselling room.' And it's exactly that.

There are three scenarios that the book goes through: a new couple who are expecting a baby and the father is struggling with the idea of parenting, a couple who are struggling with their son and anniversary death reaction, and a couple who are about to get married but the woman suspects the man of having an affair while also dealing with a dominant mother who intrudes on their relationship. I liked the variety of scenarios but I would have liked more. I finished the book in an hour or so, and even though it has plenty of re-read value, I was kind of sad about how short it was. But then again, I also know how much effort and time also goes into making graphic novels and often they are finished faster than a heavy text book. I don't regret the buy though, it was definitely worth it.couples-therapy-dramas-of-love-and-sex-5

couples-therapy-dramas-of-love-and-sex-3

As you can see, you read the scene like a comic and then down below are the therapists inner thoughts as the scene plays out. Having this kind of perspective is fantastic as someone who studies psychology and is toying with the idea of becoming a clinical psychologist/counsellor. The extra insight provided by the therapist below the scenes are fantastic. It made me aware of what was happening in the scene and how the therapist was sculpting the session.

Even though this was still a book, I felt like it has been the most effective way of teaching these type of counselling skills through written word alone. I felt like I was watching people role-play and I was learning from the scene. There were some fantastic strategies, phrases, and questions that the counsellor used which I will make note of in case I do pursue that career path.

At the end of the three scenarios, the therapist Barbara discusses the session with her colleague Chris. They talk about the couple's dynamic, the individuals, things she did well, things that he may have done if it was him, alternative options, and even explored some of the therapist's insecurities. They were critical without being harsh. It doesn't read like they are trying to falsely paint Barbara in the best light either, they are both constructively critical about how the session could have been improved or tweaked by the therapist. This type of after-discussion was great as a student wishing to learn more about counselling. A fantastic extra that I really appreciated.

couples-therapy-dramas-of-love-and-sex-4Even though I think it had some great moments for teaching couple therapy, I was hoping that there would be a greater emphasis on sex therapy since 'sex' was in the title. Sex is covered but not deeply. Unfortunately, there is little on sex. Most of the sessions focus on getting the couple to communicate to each other and to find common ground. Naturally, this is very important to the work of sex therapy, so I didn't mind nor regret purchasing the book, but I would've liked a scenario where the root of the relationship's problem was in fact in sex. Not something else. But after all, even though sex is in the title, it is called 'Couple Therapy'.

I think that there were moments where the scenes could have been fuller. There are one or two moments where the therapist reflects with a sentence that goes, "In real life I would be using more reflecitng back, paraphrasing and circular questioning to emphasise with the extreme stress they must be feeling." While it's nice to hear what she would do, I'd much prefer you show it to me. You've made this book, you've made this scene, you're role-playing it through the book, why not just show us what you'd do in "real life". Students and readers want you to get as in depth as possible (after all, for students, this is meant to help prepare us to face the real thing).

All in all, I would've liked the book to be longer (because I enjoyed it so much), to have more scenarios (to teach me even more about common couples and different presenting problems), to go even more in depth, and have more emphasis on sex therapy (this might have been covered if there were more couple scenarios). I would have also liked to have had different therapists in different scenarios so we could get a feeling for how different therapists use different theories etc. The book mainly focused on systemic therapy. As a psychology student, I would have been interested to see a psychologist tackle a couple's problem as well, to see if there are differences in the therapies used.

My favourite scenario out of the three was the first. It was in-depth, authentic, and had lot's of interesting dynamics (multi-cultural couple, avoidant attacher, baby on the way, new couple in the honey moon phase). The third scenario felt the least... real. It was still informative and there were great moments, but the 'star struck celebrity' stuff felt a bit much. I did appreciate the addition of an external, authoritative figure trying to intrude on the couple's therapy though. I imagine that does happen.

It would be really cool to see this book become a sort of series where they explore more scenarios and target groups and have different therapists. I found it very useful and an enjoyable, easy read. Which is impressive since most educational books are as dry as toast. It was such a fun way to learn! I think this will be a book I will come back to time after time just to read up on some of the key points made.

I'm also the first person to review this book on Goodreads and Amazon. So that's cool!

Have you read an educational graphic novel? What do you think of using different mediums of teaching? Have you read a good book on couple/sex therapy?

4 out of 5 stars
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