Problems initiating or maintaining friendships.

Interpersonal problems are difficulties that involve other people, their reactions, or an individualвЂ™s ways of relating to other people.Д¬lients may report encountering interpersonal problems in many domains of their life, including: Successful interpersonal relationships are an essential part of human flourishing. Our aim is to help you to apply CBT skills that you already possess so that you feel able to conceptualize relational difficulties. Then weвЂ™ll introduce our tools and give some case examples. WeвЂ™ll start by defining what interpersonal problems are and then discuss some ways that other clinicians have captured reciprocal information in CBT formulations.

Our approaches are framed in a way that contains deliberate links to the вЂ theory A versus theory BвЂ™ technique, and to the use of behavioral experiments for testing assumptions, in an effort to help clinicians and their clients to move from discussion towards action. These tools weave familiar CBT components together in a way that helps clinicians explore вЂ“ and visually represent вЂ“ the maintenance of interpersonal difficulties. We have developed some simple tools to facilitate this practice. In this article, we will discuss some new ways for clinicians to adapt their existing CBT skills to work effectively with interpersonal problems.

A client struggles to appreciate the potential effect of their behavior on others (e.g.

вЂњIf they didnвЂ™t act like this I wouldnвЂ™t have a problemвЂќ).

A client externalizes and blames others for the way that they are feeling (e.g.вЂњTheyвЂ™re so unreasonable, I hate it when they speak to me like thatвЂќ). A clientвЂ™s concerns relate to other people and their behavior (e.g.In our experience, clinicians find it more difficult to work with clientвЂ™s interpersonal difficulties in situations where: The result is that clients and therapists can end up working at cross-purposes. Therapists might listen quite passively вЂ“ feeling like they canвЂ™t conceptualize the problem in a CBT framework ВвЂ“ or feel like they have gone uncomfortably вЂoff pisteвЂ™ with CBT. Therapists might suggest goals for therapy that are at odds with what those that the client is bringing, perhaps focusing on concerns that are intrapersonal even when a clientвЂ™s primary concern is interpersonal. Working as CBT supervisors we have sometimes observed trainee and qualified CBT therapists struggle to manage their own feelings of discomfort when clients are preoccupied with interpersonal problems. Consequently, when clients come to therapy preoccupied with difficulties in their relationships, it is easy for CBT therapists to feel unskilled. However, many of the more familiar cognitive models for analyzing these problems focus on an individualвЂ™s responses and it is not always straightforward to adapt them to effectively represent interpersonal dimensions. Or they may be having difficulty with more ingrained patterns of relating across relationships, such as issues of not fitting in, repeatedly choosing abusive partners, or not getting their needs met.Д¬ognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) provides many ways for therapists to conceptualize their clientвЂ™s difficulties. Sometimes clients bring problems where theyвЂ™re struggling in everyday situations with other people, such as feeling frustrated with the way a partner is behaving, struggling to cope with their childвЂ™s behavior, or being aggressive towards other people.

Interpersonal difficulties are a common reason for clients to seek therapy. Then weвЂ™ll look at some existing psychological formulations and outline our new tools accompanied by two case studies. We will explore what interpersonal difficulties are and why therapists can feel unskilled in dealing with these types of problems.In this article we will discuss two new ways we have developed for clinicians to adapt and apply existing CBT skills to work effectively with interpersonal problems.CBT therapists can struggle or lack confidence applying their skills when conceptualizing relationship difficulties and other interpersonal problems.Interpersonal difficulties are a common reason for clients to seek therapy.

Interpersonal dynamics in social work