Mindfulness and Couple Relationships

Abstract

Alex and Jo have been in a committed romantic relationship for 5 years. Despite both expressing a strong desire to spend their lives together, they often feel unhappy in their relationship, which frequently escalates into conflict between them. Both Alex and Jo have busy careers and very active social lives and report it can be difficult to ensure they have time together as a couple. When Alex and Jo do spend time together, they both find that they are often preoccupied with thoughts about work. Alex also complains that Jo is often texting and calling friends when he tries to talk with her and that 'we never can just be there and talk'. For example, he reported she spent nearly 45 min on the telephone to a friend when they were out to dinner as a couple recently. Jo complains that Alex is preoccupied with his work and is often distracted by a call or message when they speak. She mentioned how they were talking about coming to therapy when Alex dashed off to respond to an incoming message alert on his mobile telephone. These patterns make it very difficult to fully engage in positive shared activities together. They both report wanting to make their relationship work but are feeling increasingly unsure of how to improve things. The above case illustrates an increasingly common complaint of couples that distraction, particularly around social media, work responsibilities, and online activity, prevents full engagement in the couple relationship. In the present chapter, we review the potential contribution that mindfulness can have on understanding and enhancing couple relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)