Transforming the legacies of childhood trauma in couple therapy: The biopsychosocial assessment as compass and anchor

Abstract

This paper explicates a brief overview of a synthetic couple therapy practice model along with a detailed account of the institutional, interactional, and intrapersonal factors that are relevant in completing a thorough bio‐psychosocial assessment. It is based on a chapter expected to be published by Columbia University Press in an upcoming book titled Couple Therapy with Trauma Survivors. The text presents a practice model that demonstrates why a couple therapy approach may be especially useful for survivors of childhood trauma. To provide a framework for this complex couple therapy practice model, we review the basis for a synthetic multi‐theoretical approach, the cultural constructs of “trauma,” the role of resilience, and the problematic aftereffects for adult survivors of childhood trauma. Following the description of each treatment phase of the couple therapy practice model, an outline for a biopsychosocial assessment is then introduced. At that point, specific institutional, interactional, and intrapersonal factors are reviewed and illuminated with specific clinical vignettes.