Couples' Experience of Enactments and Softening in Marital Therapy1

Softening is empirically related to therapy outcome. enactments are conceptualized as an effective mechanism for relational mediation and a potentially useful tool for fostering softening. Recent scholarly work has expanded upon existing operationalization of enactments by sequencing them developmentally and adapting them to varying levels of couple reactivity and volatility (butler & gardner, 2003 Butler, M. H. and Gardner, B. C. 2003. Adapting enactments to couple reactivity: Five developmental stages. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 29(3): 311–327. [INFOTRIEVE][CSA][Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). This research utilized qualitative methodology to test questions raised by this developmental model of enactments. Results indicated that volatile couples generally viewed carefully structured, enactments with micro-process intervention more positively than they viewed free-form enactments with therapist coaching. Less volatile couples, however, accommodated both kinds of enactments and reported advantages for each. overall, findings provide tentative support for the appropriateness of a component additive approach to enactments, as described in butler and gardner's developmental model.